Thailand has agreed to return 963 lemurs and rare turtles, seized from wildlife traffickers in the southern province of Chumphon in May this year, to Madagascar.
The Natural Resources and Environment and Justice ministries recently agreed to return the endangered animals to their native land, at the request of Madagascar’s government.
Acting on a tipoff, that several endangered species were to be smuggled from Indonesia to Thailand through Thailand’s southernmost province of Satun on May 1, officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were sent to Chumphon, which is a major intersection for Bangkok-bound vehicles, to look for suspicious vehicles used by traffickers.
In four of the cars searched, they found 1,117 lemurs and turtles, several of which were already dead. The 963 animals which were still alive were taken to a water bird breeding centre in Bang Phra, Chon Buri province.
The government of Madagascar sent Max Andonirina Fontaine, their minister of environment and sustainable development, to Thailand to inspect the animals and to request their repatriation.
The animals to be returned include 16 ring-tailed lemurs, 32 brown lemurs, 760 spider turtles and 155 radius striped turtles, all of which are classified as ‘most endangered’ under CITES Appendix One.
