Endangered tiger skins found in Hanoi taxis

The drivers were on their way to deliver the skins to a bus station when they were stopped by police.

Each of the tiger skins stretches about three meters in length.

One of them still has the tail attached.

Both drivers said they did not know the customers and were just hired to deliver the skins.

Police are currently investigating to ascertain the origins of the skins.

Vietnam is one of only 13 countries still home to tigers in the wild.

But its populations are plunging even after a national decree in 2010 pledged to double Vietnam’s tiger numbers by 2022.

Tigers are critically endangered in Vietnam, with only five thought to be left in the wild in 2016, down from 30 in 2011, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

More than a few times in Vietnam’s recent history tigers have been held in captivity illegally by local residents who sell them for their bones and skins.