Staff at Bangkok Airport were surprised recently by the discovery of a sedated tiger cub in a passenger’s baggage. According to Traffic, an organisation responsible for monitoring wildlife trade, the two-month-old cub was being smuggled in luggage containing a number of stuffed toy tigers. Staff had their suspicions aroused when the luggage was passed through an x-ray machine and the image of what looked like a real tiger appeared.

A Thai woman was attempting to board a flight destined for Iran and was apparently having trouble with her luggage when the discovery was made. Wildlife officers were alerted and the cub is now in the care of a rescue centre. Experts are currently trying to determine whether the animal was taken from the wild or was bred in captivity.

South-East Asia deputy regional director for Traffic, Chris Shepherd, said the organisation appreciated the efforts of everyone who had managed to uncover what he described as a brazen attempt at smuggling.

Shepherd added that it was shocking to see that some people viewed the smuggling of animals as something easy and something they will not necessarily be punished for. He went on to say that harsher penalties needed to be handed out for this type of thing, especially when people were bold enough to try and get through airport security with tiger’s in their check-in luggage.

In his opinion, the only way to prevent the smuggling of endangered species is through more thorough monitoring and constant pressure being applied to the traffickers.