Police were acting on a tip-off that the bear had been transported for slaughter on Friday night in a pickup truck to the plantation in Ban Por Hu. They also found some already-fried bear meat at the scene. Apiwat told police that he and two friends had gone on Friday night to view a bear stuck in a trap in a cornfield four kilometres from the Khao Yai National Park. He claimed that the bear had been stuck in the trap for days and had already died of starvation. Police initially charged Apiwat with hunting wildlife without permission and illegal possession of a wildlife carcass.

Source: The Nation Bangkok February 18, 2018 06:56 UTC