apa dah jadi?

BANGKOK: Their heads hacked from their graceful bodies, this tragic picture shows the fate of tigers in the brutal hands of poachers.
Police seized tiger carcasses weighing up to 250kg from a lorry passing through Hua Hin, a popular tourist resort, in the Prachuap Kiri Khan province on Monday.The tigers were believed to be smuggled from Malaysia and on their way to China, police said. Two Thai men had been arrested in connection with the smuggling. National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief Upai Wayupat told the Bangkok Post daily that the carcasses would be tested to determine if the animals were domesticated or otherwise.He said the tests, to be conducted at Kasetsart University's Kamphaeng Saen campus, would take up to two weeks.
"If they were captive tigers, officials will investigate which farms they came from," said Upai, adding that breeding tigers was a popular business as wildlife smugglers could fetch as much as a million baht (RM100,000) for a tiger. He said Thailand was a major transit point for wildlife smuggling.With profits so high, traffickers are usually armed and ready to do battle -- and China is one of the world's biggest markets for tigers.Last month, Malaysia, where the tigers were believed to have been captured, announced plans to step up its protection of the creatures.Numbers of tigers have dropped in Malaysia from 3,000 to 500 in the past half-century, mostly because of illegal hunting and human encroachment.Tiger meat is exported, served at exotic restaurants and used in traditional Chinese medicine.It is illegal to kill tigers in Malaysia and the World Wildlife Fund was optimistic that the new 12-year plan to step up protection of the big cats will help boost their population. (NST, 8th January 2009)