Malaysian police have detained a Thai man after finding the butchered remains of an endangered Malayan tiger in his home in northern Kelantan state, reports said Saturday.

The tiger, which weighed 150 kilogrammes (331 pounds) and was between five and six years old, had been caught using a wire snare, said the director of the state's Wildlife and National Parks Department, Pazil Abdul Patah.

It was then repeatedly shot in the left shoulder before being cut into four parts, the Bernama news agency reported.

"This is the first case that I consider serious and heartless where the animal is killed brutally and dismembered into four," Pazil was quoted as saying.

He said police and wildlife officers raided the 22-year-old man's house on Thursday and found the carcass in his refrigerator after receiving a tip-off.

Less than 100 left

Officials believe the man is a wildlife poacher and had intended to smuggle the tiger's body parts, including the bones and intestines, into Thailand for sale, the New Straits Times said.

If found guilty of possessing tiger meat, he faces a RM15,000 fine or five years' prison or both.

Pazil said there were fewer than 100 Malayan tigers left in Kelantan state.

Tigers are highly sought after for their meat in many parts of Asia, while tiger body parts are used as aphrodisiacs and medicines.

A 1997 government survey estimated there were some 600-650 tigers left in peninsular Malaysia, as opposed to around 5,000 in the 1950s.