BANGKOK – The head of Thailand’s state zoo agency was shot dead Saturday while investigating the suspicious disappearance of rare animals from a zoo in the southern province.
Surya Sengpong, director general of Thailand’s Zoological Parks Organization, was shot several times at the Songzla Zoo office fee, police captain Komalpan Srithep said.
A senior officer at the zoo, the suspected gunman, fled the scene of the shooting and killed himself in his living quarters, Srithep said.
The motive behind the killing was not immediately clear, although Srithep said the suspected gunman was one of four senior zoo officials who were being investigated.
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Missing animals from the Songala Zoo in Thailand made headlines last week when documents were leaked, with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varavat Silpa-Archa expressing dissatisfaction with the initial investigation into the disappearance of a rare barking deer from there in February.
Songla Zoo director Chalermavudh Kasetsambu reported that he had obtained photos showing the deer being picked up by a Burmese python, but his claim was met with suspicion.
Ezra News, an online site that publishes the leaked documents, said there were fears that the missing deer, along with other animals, could be sold or stolen by wildlife vehicle traders.
Varavut then ordered a new probe, which Surya flew from Bangkok to Sonkhla for the inauguration on Saturday.
Illegal trade in wildlife generates about 25 25 billion in criminal revenue each year, according to the International Defense Group, which monitors such activities, according to Traffic, which is believed to be the world’s fourth most lucrative criminal activity after trafficking in drugs, men and weapons.
Gun-related violence is rare in Thailand, although it is not uncommon for a senior official to be killed in a workplace dispute.
In northeastern Thailand in February, a Thai Army soldier who believed he had been deceived by his commanding colonel in a property transaction shot the officer, and then went into a shootout, killing 31 people, including her. .
