<p class="title">In an unusual case of smuggling, an about one-month old leopard cub was found in the baggage of a passenger who arrived from Bangkok Saturday at the airport here, Customs officials said.<br /><br />The cub was handed over to the Forest department personnel who lodged it in the Vandalur zoo here, they said adding a case was being registered against the passenger, who claimed he was only a courier.<br /> </p>.<p class="title">The animal was found in a plastic basket in the bag of Kaja Mohideen when the Air Intelligence officials, acting on a tip-off, examined his checked-in luggage. Mohideen (45), who arrived by a Thai Airways flight, was also handed over to the Forest department, they said.<br /><br />Though Customs officials had foiled smuggling of star tortoises in the past, this was perhaps the first time they have stumbled upon a leopard cub in recent years. "The animal was in a state of shock and was making trill sounds and appeared to be weak.<br /><br />The Customs officers fed the cub milk in a feeding bottle..," Commissioner of Customs Rajan Chaudhary said in a release.<br /><br />Officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and zoo veterinarians were alerted who identified the animal as a female leopard cub, weighing 1.1 kg and about a month old and in a good condition.<br /><br />"The leopard cub was seized under the Customs, Wild Life Protect Acts and as per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora."<br /><br />A senior zoo official told PTI that the cub has been brought in and was being taken care as per a protocol to be followed in such situations.<br /><br />To a question, the official said a key priority was to de-stress the animal, adding higher authorities would take a call on whether it would remain the zoo or has to be sent back to Thailand.<br /><br />On the motive for bringing in the animal and the offences for which the passenger has been booked, another forest official said,"questioning is underway and a case is being registered."<br /><br />Pleading ignorance about the presence of the animal in the basket and the person who had handed it over to him, the passenger claimed that he only acted as a courier. He was informed someone would collect it from him and give him money, the passenger told officials during questioning.</p>
<p class="title">In an unusual case of smuggling, an about one-month old leopard cub was found in the baggage of a passenger who arrived from Bangkok Saturday at the airport here, Customs officials said.<br /><br />The cub was handed over to the Forest department personnel who lodged it in the Vandalur zoo here, they said adding a case was being registered against the passenger, who claimed he was only a courier.<br /> </p>.<p class="title">The animal was found in a plastic basket in the bag of Kaja Mohideen when the Air Intelligence officials, acting on a tip-off, examined his checked-in luggage. Mohideen (45), who arrived by a Thai Airways flight, was also handed over to the Forest department, they said.<br /><br />Though Customs officials had foiled smuggling of star tortoises in the past, this was perhaps the first time they have stumbled upon a leopard cub in recent years. "The animal was in a state of shock and was making trill sounds and appeared to be weak.<br /><br />The Customs officers fed the cub milk in a feeding bottle..," Commissioner of Customs Rajan Chaudhary said in a release.<br /><br />Officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and zoo veterinarians were alerted who identified the animal as a female leopard cub, weighing 1.1 kg and about a month old and in a good condition.<br /><br />"The leopard cub was seized under the Customs, Wild Life Protect Acts and as per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora."<br /><br />A senior zoo official told PTI that the cub has been brought in and was being taken care as per a protocol to be followed in such situations.<br /><br />To a question, the official said a key priority was to de-stress the animal, adding higher authorities would take a call on whether it would remain the zoo or has to be sent back to Thailand.<br /><br />On the motive for bringing in the animal and the offences for which the passenger has been booked, another forest official said,"questioning is underway and a case is being registered."<br /><br />Pleading ignorance about the presence of the animal in the basket and the person who had handed it over to him, the passenger claimed that he only acted as a courier. He was informed someone would collect it from him and give him money, the passenger told officials during questioning.</p>