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Wallets That Don't Pay

December 16, 2015

Photo Credit: WCS Indonesia

These wallets, made from illegal Sumatran tiger skins, came at great cost. The trader who has been selling them was arrested on Dec. 11 in Indonesia, as was an intermediary.

Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered tiger sub-species that can only be found in Indonesia, making their deaths all the more significant. Poaching and trading them is illegal there.

This particular trader chose specific parts of complete tiger skins to create 10-15 wallets and confessed to using 11 full tiger skins in the past year.

Other wildlife items were also found, including a stuffed Hawksbill sea turtle, a stuffed crocodile head, a helmeted hornbill casque, a sea turtle carapace, seven crocodile skins, and two bear fangs.

WCS's Wildlife Crimes Unit announced the arrest with the The Criminal Investigation Division of the Indonesian National Police.

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