2 endangered Indochinese tigers thrown out of truck to block police chase

At around 8:30 pm, local patrolling police found a suspicious-looking truck without a plate number traveling on a section of National Highway 1A that runs through the province so they pulled the vehicle over for checking, according to Dinh Trong Huynh, deputy chief of the Quynh Luu District police.

However, the truck driver ignored the police’s order and sped away, Huynh said.

During the chase, people on the vehicle threw out the two tigers, one weighing 90kg and the other 75kg, to obstruct the police. The anesthetized cats were later identified as endangered Indochinese tigers.

The mammals were taken to the Pu Mat National Park in Con Cuong District for care on the same day. Police are hunting for the poachers.

One of the two Indochinese tigers thrown out of a truck to the ground on June 13, 2014. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Animal advocates said the Indochinese tiger, scientifically known as Panthera tigris corbetti, is a tiger sub-species found in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and southwestern China.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), this tiger species is disappearing faster than any other tiger sub-species, with one being killed each week.

IUCN quoted some reports as saying that almost three-quarters of the Indochinese tigers killed end up in Chinese pharmacies for Chinese traditional medicine.

Fewer than 30 Indochinese tigers are believed to be left in Vietnam and no such animal has been seen in China since 2007 when the last one was eaten, according to IUCN.

All existing populations are at extreme risk from habitat loss, prey depletion, inbreeding, hunting for trophies, poaching by farmers, and the growing demand for tiger bones used in Asian medicine, it added.