Cambodian ‘Survivalist’ YouTubers Under Fire for Skinning Endangered Animals and Eating Them

Fair warning, some of these videos may be too graphic.

Mother-of-one Ah Lin Tuch and her husband Phoun Raty, who operate the YouTube channel Natural Life TV, have been arrested after netizens reported them to the authorities for posting videos of cooking and eating animals believed to be on the list of protected species in a jungle near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment launched a manhunt for Ah Lin and Phoun after receiving online complaints last Wednesday, according to Daily Mail.

They were made to publicly admit and apologize for what they did.

In the videos, Ah Lin can be seen posing in front of the camera as she shows viewers the wild animals that they would cook for the day, including frogs, cobra, a shark, and a stingray.

“We are now in the process of taking legal action against them while the working group is preparing a report on the matter,” Chea Sam Arng, head of the Environment Ministry’s General Directorate for Administration of Nature Conservation and Protection, said in a statement. “The animals that were cooked were mostly not on the endangered list, but are protected. Only one species was in danger of extinction.”

Ah Lin and Phoun also posted videos where they cooked a lizard and other protected species of bird such as a large heron.

However, the couple did not know that one of the wild animals they killed, the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), was on the endangered species list.

Both Ah Lin and Phoun reportedly claimed that the wild animals featured in their videos were “bought” from a local market in Cambodia before they cooked it.

“I don’t even know what kind of animals or birds we used or their impact on wildlife conservation,” she said. “I bought the wildlife at Preak Phnov and we started filming our videos since December. Now I have already admitted my mistake.”

The Cambodian government has started investigating Ah Lin’s claim about where they got the animals.

Meanwhile, her husband said that they intend to make a living through their YouTube channel, but so far they have only earned about $500 from all the Google sponsored ads shown in the clips.

The videos showing Ah Lin eating the protected animals and endangered fishing cat have since been removed.

Featured Image via YouTube / (Left): Natural Life TV | (Right): Natural Life TV