SUNGAI PETANI, Malaysia: Two tigers, two monkeys, a gibbon and two crocodiles were seized from an oil palm plantation house in Bukit Selambau, near here.

The house is owned by a man wanted by police in connection with a RM3.9mil armed robbery case in Gurun on Feb 5.

The two tigers - one believed to be a six-year-old male and a five-year old tigress - and the monkeys were found caged inside the kitchen while the 1m-long crocodile was in a cage inside the compound.

The gibbon was found caged inside a nearby house.?

Fifteen men from the State Wildlife department and Malacca Zoo loaded the animals into a truck last night.

Police had to break open the front door grille after repeated calls to the people inside the house to open went unheeded.

A man, believed to be the suspect's son, finally relented when the police broke open the grille.

State Wildlife Department director Rahim Ahmad said the animals have been sent to the Malacca Zoo.

State deputy CID chief Supt Mohd Zaki Masroh said they had come looking for the suspect at his house a few days ago but stumbled upon the animals. They alerted the Wildlife Department.