Three tiger cubs rescued from smugglers

DHAKA — Authorities in Bangladesh rescued three tiger cubs from a private residence yesterday, as they were apparently being prepared for smuggling to Malaysia.

The Rapid Action Battalion also arrested two men, who were tried on the spot by a mobile court and sentenced to two years each for wildlife smuggling.

The cubs had been taken two or three days earlier from the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, which straddles India and Bangladesh, and is one of the largest remaining habitats of the endangered Bengal Tiger, said Raihanuddin Khan, the battalion’s operations of cer.

The rescued animals, believed to be two-and-a-half months old, would be handed to the Forest Department for rehabilitation, and later sent either to the Dhaka zoo or a safari park in the southeastern district of Chittagong, he said. — dpa