Thailand tiger temple to face charges over dead cubs

Authorities in Thailand have said they will be pressing charges against a Buddhist temple where the bodies of 40 dead tiger cubs were found. The discovery came during a week-long effort to relocate 137 tigers from the tourist site in Kanchanaburi province.

The temple operators have been accused of wildlife trafficking, animal abuse and illegally possessing carcasses and endangered species. They deny all allegations and had resisted previous attempts to remove the tigers.

And on Thursday, Thai auhtorities intercepted a monk who was trying to leave the temple with a number of tiger skins and fangs. This latest discovery further fuelled long-running accusations that the zoo was involved in the illegal wildlife trade.

The tiger cub corpses were found in a freezer at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple complex on Wednesday, along with body parts from other animals. Police searching the premises said the cubs would have been one or two days old, but it was not clear how long they had been dead. DNA testing is planned to determine whether they were related to other tigers at the site.

A keeper at the temple had been told by the operators "to place the carcasses when they died in cold storage".

The temple has vehemently denied trafficking allegations and said it decided in 2010 to stop cremating cubs which died soon after birth. Authorities started the operation to remove all 137 living tigers from the temple on Monday. Dozens have already been removed.

The site, west of Bangkok, was a popular tourist attraction, with visitors able to pose for photos with the animals for a fee. It has been closed to the public since the raid.