The 31-year-old Thai national, whose identity has not been exposed by Thai authorities, was planned to board a Mahan Air flight to Iran. But when she was seen fraught with a large bag at check-in, airport officials decided to x-ray her luggage.
The x-rays discovered the tranquilized tiger cub among stuffed-tiger toys, according to a statement released by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network.
Officials are investigating whether the cub was wild caught or captive-bred, as well as where the woman planned to bring the tiger.
All Asian tigers are scheduled as endangered or worse by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), mostly due to the illegal trade in tiger parts
