AYUTTHAYA: A local builder has been arrested and charged after been seen in a video clip with other men butchering the carcass of a barking deer in preparation for cooking it, in Bang Pa-in district.
The video, originally 13 minutes long, was posted on YouTube.
On Wednesday, officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservaton’s Phaya Suea task force searched a house in tambon Sam Ruean.
They found barking deer hair and butchering knives in the house grounds.
House owner Panya Wirakornkun, 37, a local builder, was detained for illegal possession of the carcass of a protected species in violation of the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act 1992. He was taken to Sinthiwathanee police station.
Police said Mr Panya confessed he bought a dead barking deer from a hunter in Saraburi province for 8,400 baht and took it to his home in Ayutthaya. There, employees helped him butcher it and prepare a meal with the meat.
One of the workers had videotaped the butchering and later uploaded the clip to YouTube.
He claimed he did not know the barking deer was a protected animal. He was released on bail.
The clip has since been removed from YouTube.
