More than 130 kilograms of wildlife meat were confiscated in Kratie’s Sambor district on Monday, but the poacher managed to escape.

The rare meat from wild pig and red muntjac – a type of deer – was found in Kbal Domrey commune by a group of officials from the Sandan Forestry Administration and Wildlife Alliance, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Selling wild meat is illegal in Cambodia, and authorities frequently raid markets and restaurants, sometimes confiscating hundreds of kilograms of meat at once.

An official said yesterday that after getting a tip-off, they inspected the area and found the meat hidden in a forest, about 1 kilometre from a home.

“We did not see the owner of the meat . . . The homeowners claimed they did not know it, so they didn’t take responsibility,” he said.

The meat was incinerated at the Forestry Administration office the same day.

Chik Bora, Kbal Domrey deputy commune police chief, noticed that some villagers were still secretly hunting wildlife in a forest at a Chinese-owned economical land concession despite the ban.