BANGKOK, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- A senior administrative official was arrested alongside 10 others on charges of slaying a bearcat in a national park in western Thailand.

Authorities arrested the administrative official Sunday, identified as Watcharachai Sameerak, and his friends, including two local defense volunteers, on charges of illegally poaching and killing the bearcat, which was offiically categorized as a protected wildlife, in Saiyok national park in Kanchanaburi province, said an official of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

Watcharachai is a deputy district officer of Dan Makham Tia district of the western province, which covers Saiyok district and the national park of the same name.

Found in possession of the wildlife hunting suspects were four freshly-lacerated legs of the bearcat, a rifle with a silencer, two handguns, ammunition and six off-road trucks, the department's official said.

Earlier this year, Premchai Karnasuta, president of giant contractor Italian-Thai Development Co., was arrested alongside three others on charges of poaching and killing a black panther in Thung Yai Naresuan wildlilfe sanctuary in Kanchanaburi.