A Chinese man was arrested for illegally possessing a tiger cub that was killed by a car in Thailand.

An Yi, 27, and his friend Jian Ping reportedly kept the baby tiger and a three-year-old male lion named Simba at a rental house in Chanthaburi province. They were caught after posting selfies with the protected animals on their social media accounts.

Wildlife officers converged on their home and seized the tiger cub to be handed over to a police station. However, it reportedly broke free from its cage during transit, and was fatally struck by a vehicle on February 25 evening.

Heartbreaking footage shows vets conducting a post-mortem exam on the bloodied dead animal, which suffered severe internal injuries.

Police Colonel Tharathep Toopanich, deputy commander of the provincial police, said: 'The initial examination results from the veterinarian team found that the tiger cub's left hind leg was broken, its intestines were dislodged, and its internal organs were bruised, causing its death. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether it died from being struck or ran over.'

Authorities arrested An Yi, who allegedly confessed to being the animals' caretaker.

He claimed his friend Jian Ping had adopted the wildlife from a Vietnamese acquaintance who had already returned to his home country.

Police detained An Yi for allegedly possessing protected wildlife without a permit.

Simba the lion was still at the property pending relocation due to his size. Veterinary checks found that Simba's microchip matched his registration details, except for his declared location.

Authorities said they were investigating if the Chinese suspects were linked to international wildlife trafficking rings.

In July 2024, police arrested a Chinese couple and two Thai caretakers for keeping a pair of male lions without valid permits in 'Sin City' Pattaya.

While on November 11, a Frenchman named Jami was detained after he took selfies with his pet baby macaques in Bangkok. He reportedly admitted that he lacked the legal documents to own or breed them.

Thailand is a major transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade due to its strategic location and extensive border crossings. Exotic birds, reptiles, and other valuable species on the black market are commonly trafficked to other parts of Asia.

Despite efforts to crack down, Thai authorities struggle due to corruption and the difficulty of monitoring porous borders and illegal online markets.