Kanchanaburi: The Thong Pha Phum provincial court has sentenced five hunters to almost five years in prison for killing a tiger and her cub in a national park in Thong Pha Phum district last year.
They were also fined 11,000 baht each, which was reduced to 5,500 baht.
In addition, the court on Monday ordered all five hunters -- Supachai Charoensap, Jorhang Panarak, Phukua Yindee, Ratchanon Charoensap and Cho Aye -- to pay 750,000 baht plus 5% interest in damages to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
The five men were found guilty of colluding to trap and kill the tiger and her cub using a cow carcass as a lure in Thong Pha Phum national park in Thong Pha Phum district between Jan 8-11 last year.
The five had been freed on 100,000-baht bail each before sentencing.
The court handed down the ruling against the men on Feb 8, but it was not disclosed until Monday.
The court found them guilty of violating four laws -- the National Park Act, the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, Forest Reserve Act and the Firearms Act. The five men had committed the offences more than once.
As the five men have families who live close to the forests, they were expected to have developed a natural attachment to nature and recognised the importance of conserving the forests and the wildlife, the ruling said.
The defendants were also mature enough to possess a moral conscience and not allow themselves to be misguided by such acts of cruelty, it added.
The court also dismissed the defendants' claim that they killed the tigers in a fit of anger after the animals had eaten their cows.
Even if the claim was true, killing was not the right course of action as it amounted to a blatant violation of the law and damaged the ecology and food chain in which tigers play a vital part, it said.
The court found the tiger and her cub had been carefully stripped of their skins while the meat and bones were smoked as food.
The acts showed the five had set out to kill the tigers, the court ruled, adding they also were aware of the market available for buying tiger skins which fetch high prices.
