A lioness bares its teeth inside an enclosure after a raid at a zoo-like house on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand Monday, June 10, 2013. Thai police and forestry officials searched and seized a number of imported and endangered animals including 14 lions from Africa and arrested the house's owner.
A Thai forestry official takes a note as he examines lions in the enclosure at a zoo-like house on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand Monday, June 10, 2013. Thai police and forestry officials searched and seized a number of imported and endangered animals including 14 lions from Africa and arrested the house's owner
A Thai man spays water to clean the lion's enclosure after a raid at a zoo-like house on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand Monday, June 10, 2013. Thai police and forestry officials searched and seized a number of imported and endangered animals including 14 lions from Africa and arrested the house's owner.
A police officer stands by caged lions during a raid on the outskirts of Bangkok June 10, 2013. Thai police said they confiscated more than a thousand wildlife animals on Monday and will investigate to verify their origin. Almost 1,000 sugar gliders, 14 white lions, 12 peacocks, 17 marmosets and many other wild animals were found in cages in the suburbs of Bangkok.
(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Birds, meerkats, tortoises, peafowls, capuchin monkeys and other species from overseas and Thailand were found at the warehouse, police Col. Ek Ekasart said.
They said Montri Boonprom-on, 41, faces charges of possessing wildlife and carcasses and could face up to four years in jail and a fine of 40,000 baht ($1,300).
Ek said Montri owns an exotic pet shop at Bangkok's renowned Chatuchak weekend market and was previously convicted of wildlife trading.
Montri told reporters the lions were shipped legally and were to be transferred to a zoo in Thailand's northeast. He did not explain why only 14 lions remained at his warehouse, while the documents showed he had imported 16.
Thailand is a hub of the international black market in protected animals. While the country is a member of a convention regulating international trade in endangered species, Thai law does not extend protection to many alien species.
Police also found a hornbill and a leopard, both protected by Thai law, which were packed in a box and were scheduled to be delivered to clients on Monday.
"We have been monitoring the location for a few days after the neighbors complained about the noise from the animals," Ek told reporters during the raid in a residential area of Bangkok's Klong Sam Wa district. "And if you looked through the gate, you could spot lions in the cage."
The animals were confiscated and will be under the care of the Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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