BANGKOK - THAI highway police seized four tiger carcasses passing through Hua Hin, a popular tourist resort, on Monday.

The tigers were believed to be smuggled from Malaysia and on their way to China, police said. Two Thai men were 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 undergo genetic testing to determine if they were domesticated or otherwise.

He said the tests, to be conducted by a team of veterinarians 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 Mr Upai, adding that breeding tigers is currently a popular business as wildlife smugglers could fetch as much as a million baht for a tiger.

Highway police seized the severed heads and carcasses of the tigers from a truck in Hua Hin district, about three hours' drive from Bangkok.

The police believe the animals were being transported from Malaysia to China, one of the world's biggest markets for tigers.

According to Mr Upai, Thailand is a major transit point for wildlife smuggling.

The department's figures showed that there were 638 cases of illegal wildlife trading over the past four years, resulting in 2,910 mammals, 15,940 birds, 941 reptiles and 10 fish being confiscated by the authorities.

Last month, Malaysia 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.

Police investigators from Southeast Asia, China and the United States met in Bangkok Wednesday to share strategies for tackling the illegal international trade in tigers, leopards and pangolins.

Big cats prized for their skin and body parts and pangolins, or scaly anteaters, which are used in cooking, are under particular threat from organised trafficking gangs in Asia.

Asian, US police meet on tackling wildlife crime
On Wednesday, investigators from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam joined representatives from China and the United States for a three-day workshop on curbing the crime.

'Concerted and coordinated joint actions are required to address the illegal exploitation and trade,' said Chumphon Suckasaem, a senior officer with the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) Wildlife Enforcement Network.

Mr Chumphon said the trade had already taken its toll, 'threatening to irrevocably damage South-east Asia's ecosystems.'

But he said more than 100 arrests connected with major wildlife crime had been made since mid-July 2008.

'Compared to the past the police are more interested in the wildlife issue... it's stronger than it was before,' said Colonel Subsak Chavalviwat of Thailand's wildlife police department.

Col Subsak admitted there remained difficult cultural barriers in countries such as China, where there is still a strong demand for big cat parts.

'Sometimes its difficult but I'm confident so I'm going to keep doing it and keep trying,' he said.

'It's saving the animals, saving the forests and saving the humans because if the biodiversity is good then we are living in a good environment for humans' health,' he added.

Pangolins are the most traded species in South-east Asia, with Mr Chumphon estimating 30,000 specimens had been confiscated by authorities between 1998 and 2007.

The World Wildlife Fund estimated last year that there were only around 3,500 tigers left in the world. -- BERNAMA, NST, AFP