News about wild animals, both good and bad, made the headlines from time to time in 2016, and both the authorities and academics have shared a common concern on illegal wildlife trade, especially as more people are interested in keeping wild animals as pets.

Also, a large number of deaths among rare animals and threat to the survival of several species from the loss of habitat, pollution and illegal hunting have been a great concern over the past year.

Department deputy director-general Adisorn Noochdumrong said the black market for wild animals was the biggest problem this year, as it is very difficult for officers to track down the sellers and arrest them.

“The department is serious about cracking down on illegal wildlife trade in any form. Our masterpiece this year was the suppression of tiger trade and successfully raiding and rescuing tigers from the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi,” Adisorn said.

“Dealing with wild-animal trade for pets is our greatest challenge. The department has regularly raided the Chatuchak pet market to arrest the sellers, but now, in this digital age, the wild-animal black market has already moved online and is making our work harder.”

Despite the difficulty in tracking down and arresting online offenders, the deputy-director said his department and the police had successfully investigated the sale of wildlife online, arrested a trafficker last Friday and rescued two baby orangutans, which were smuggled from Indonesia.

As for the case against the Tiger Temple, he said the department was awaiting final DNA results from the tiger cub carcasses found in the temple, which could provide evidence against the temple on trafficking allegations.

Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation vice chairman Rungsrit Kanjanavanit said the biggest problem for the country’s wildlife situation this year was the rising popularity of wild animals as pets.

“This craze has increased the demand for cute wild animals such as otters, loris or hornbills, and has encouraged smugglers to capture these animals and sell them online. Unfortunately, the authorities do not have enough manpower to check on this crime on the Net,” Rungsrit said.

He explained that it was not just the sale of wild animals as pets but also the demand for animal parts in traditional medicine and aphrodisiac in East Asian countries that led to a significant drop in the numbers of rare animals this year.

“In recent years, the number of helmeted hornbills in the wild have dropped greatly due to a huge demand for its beak in China, which has led to a mass hunting of this rare bird species. Things are so bad that this species was ranked as critically endangered this year,” he said.

“We cannot wait for the authorities to investigate and arrest these illegal traders on a case-by-case basis. Instead, we have to campaign and make people aware that owning wild animals as pets or buying products from wild animals is wrong. We need cooperation from people in order to protect these endangered animals.”

He added that this year, Thailand witnessed several tragedies, such as the mass death of giant freshwater stingrays in the Mae Klong River, the unsuccessful mating of the last pair of Gurney’s Pitta bird in Thailand or the death of the last dugong in the Gulf of Thailand – all due to human activities.

On the bright side, the foundation’s vice chairman revealed that his team has successfully reintroduced sarus cranes into the wild in Buri Ram, after this rare bird species had more or less vanished from nature for decades.

The number of rare animals in many national parks have also increased such as gaurs in Kui Buri National Park and tigers in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary – all an indication that the preservation efforts by officers have proved to be a success.

Adisorn also stated that next year, the Department will step up the protection of wild animals by drafting a new amendment to the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act to include restrictions on the ownership and breeding of wild animals.

With this new amendment, penalties for illegal trade in wildlife will become stricter, which will help with the efforts to crack the black market and the trafficking of wild life.