Leopard cub found in passenger’s luggage at Chennai Airport

Leopard cub found in passenger’s luggage at Chennai Airport

A one-month-old leopard cub was found in a passenger’s carryon luggage at Chennai Airport after withstanding a flight from Thailand to India over the weekend.

The security officials who recovered the cub noticed a man walking in a “suspicious manner” in the arrival area, Rajan Chaudhary, Chennai Airport’s commissioner of customs told the Times of India.

“After he collected his luggage, he was walking in a rather hurried manner. A faint sound was coming from his checked-in luggage,” Chaudhary said.

When officials opened the man’s bag, they discovered a pink plastic basket with a female cub weighing only 1.1 kilograms inside.

“The animal was in a state of shock and was making trill sounds and appeared to be weak.”

Chaudhary said the department received a tip-off that prohibited wild animals would likely be smuggled in on a flight from Thailand.

Customs officials immediately bottle fed the cub some milk and contacted the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) who identified the cub as a leopard of the Panthera Pardus species.

Officials from the WCCB handed over the cub to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to be rehabilitated in the Aringar Anna Zoological Park.

The 45-year-old passenger in possession of the cub was detained and investigations are in progress to determine if the man was part of an international smuggling ring.

According to the ABC, authorities in Thailand have been working to crack down on wildlife crime, which is becoming a significant issue, estimated to be worth between $9 billion and $29 billion a year worldwide.

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]