Story highlights Wildlife officials moved in after complaints from tourists and concerns for their welfare 
 
 The tigers are being moved to a compound in another province 
 
 Bangkok (CNN) Authorities armed with tranquilizer guns are still trying to capture dozens of tigers at a controversial Buddhist temple in Thailand after temple staff allegedly set some free to delay the process. 
 
 "Yesterday was mayhem," Wildlife Conservation Office (WCO) director Teunjai Noochdumrong told CNN Tuesday. 
 
 "When our vet team arrived, there were tigers roaming around everywhere," Noochdumrong said. "Looks like the temple intentionally let these tigers out, trying to obstruct our work." 
 
 The "Tiger Temple," in Kanchanaburi Province west of Bangkok, has long been popular with tourists , who could walk among the tigers and pose for photos. Thailand's Wildlife Conservation Office (WCO) said the temple's 137 tigers posed a danger to visitors and that they were being mistreated. 
 
 A tourist poses for a photo with a tiger at the Thai temple in 2012. 
 
 However, when staff from the WCO arrived Monday morning to remove the tigers, temple officials refused to let them in. After a half-day stand off, wildlife officers finally entered and were able to sedate eight tigers. 
 
 Read More ||||| In this photo provided by the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, a tiger looks out of a cage at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May... (Associated Press) 
 
 BANGKOK (AP) — Wildlife officials in Thailand have begun removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals. 
 
 The director of Thailand's Wildlife Conservation Office, Teunjai Noochdumrong, said three tigers were tranquilized and transported Monday in an operation involving about 1,000 state personnel that is expected to continue for a week. 
 
 The animals will be taken to three government animal refuges elsewhere in Thailand. 
 
 The temple, a popular money-earning tourist attraction in the western province of Kanchanaburi, has been criticized by animal rights activists because of allegations it is not properly set up to care for the animals and flouted regulations restricting their trade. 
 
 The monks resisted previous efforts to take away the tigers, and impeded the effort again on Monday morning despite the massive show of force by the authorities. They relented after police obtained a court order. More than 300 officials remained at the temple overnight to ensure the tigers remained safe. 
 
 The temple recently made arrangements to operate as a zoo, but the plan fell through when the government determined that the operators failed to secure sufficient resources. 
 
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 This story has been corrected to show that the tigers will be taken to three animal refuges, not two.
– Wildlife officials in Thailand have begun removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals. The director of Thailand's Wildlife Conservation Office, Teunjai Noochdumrong, says three tigers were tranquilized and transported Monday in an operation involving about 1,000 state personnel that's expected to continue for a week. The animals will be taken to three government animal refuges elsewhere in Thailand. The temple, a popular money-earning tourist attraction in the western province of Kanchanaburi, has been criticized by animal rights activists because of allegations it's not properly set up to care for the animals and flouted regulations, the AP reports The monks resisted previous efforts to take away the tigers, and they impeded the effort again on Monday morning despite the massive show of force by the authorities. It was "mayhem," Noochdumrong tells CNN. "When our vet team arrived, there were tigers roaming around everywhere," he says. "Looks like the temple intentionally let these tigers out, trying to obstruct our work." The monks relented after police obtained a court order. More than 300 officials remained at the temple overnight to ensure the tigers remained safe. (This tiger was found roaming a residential neighborhood in Texas.)