Two yellow labrador brothers, Si Thong and Si Phoon, are helping authorities at Suvarnabhumi airport in Thailand crack down on illegal wildlife being smuggle into the country, especially ivory.
These dogs from the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were specifically trained for the job and can sniff out contraband that authorities would often miss.
The illegal ivory trade has become a major concern for Thailand. The country is ranked third in the illegal tusk trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), after Congo and Nigeria.
Over the past two years, four tonnes of ivory worth about 170 million baht have been confiscated, according to the department.
Environment and Natural Resource Minister Suwit Khunkitti said the ministry had planned a heavy campaign against the illegal ivory trade and hoped to see Thailand delisted from being a hub for the activity at the Cites meeting in Doha starting on March 13.
“We have a strong campaign [which allows for] severe punishment with four years in prison [for convicted smugglers]. We believe that those aggressive measures would be able to change the country’s image to the world community,” Mr Suwit said.
The department yesterday launched the “Buy Ivory, Buy Trouble!” campaign at the airport, together with other international airports in the country to raise awareness among tourists of the danger to elephants from purchasing souvenirs made of ivory. Sulma Warne of Traffic Southeast Asia, voiced his concern over a rapidly declining wild elephant population and urged the global community to protect wild elephants for future generations.
