(MY) victims of humans

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Tuesday October 4, 2005 - The Star

 

 

Victims of humans

 

By LEAH RAY

 

Some older Malays say that slow lorises (kongkang) are bad luck. But for

slow lorises, it is human beings who are bad luck, and worse. These

slow-moving, nocturnal primates are helpless against human predators.

 

While on holiday in Cameron Highlands, Pahang in July, I saw an orang asli

man sell a pair of slow lorises to a Malay family. I was shocked. I knew I

was witnessing something inhumane and tragic. What I did not know was that I

was also witnessing a crime.

 

Some Malaysian friends and I had stopped at an orang asli settlement by the

side of the road from Tapah to Ringlet. It was similar to others that lined

the way, except that here, in addition to the usual rambutan and wild ginger

for sale, there were wild animals on display.

 

Two long-tailed macaques were chained to a flimsy shelter. Several baby

monkeys scrabbled in the dirt amidst a pack of skinny dogs and puppies. A

common palm civet was curled up in a cardboard box on the veranda of the

small house, a metal chain slung around its hips.

 

My friend called my attention to a pair of slow lorises huddled in a rusty

wire cage by the side of the house. I could see that these animals were in

terrible trouble. Only their backs were visible as they hunkered down,

clinging to each other, their fear and misery palpable.

 

Suddenly, a Malay family drove up. The orang asli swiftly toted the caged

slow lorises to their car. My friend, who could understand what was being

said, told me: “They just bought them for RM50.” We watched in horror as the

men shoved the animals into the boot and the family drove off. It was over

in the blink of an eye.

 

I reported the incident to the Wildlife and National Parks Department

(DWNP). What the Pahang DWNP director Zainuddin Abdullah Shukor told me was

stunning: The slow loris is totally protected under Malaysian law. All

trapping and sales of it are illegal.

 

 

A slow loris being sold for RM150 at an orang asli roadside stall. Although

cute and cuddly, slow lorises are wild animals which cannot survive out of

the wild. – Picture by KAMARUL ARIFFIN

It is possible to get a special permit to catch or keep a totally protected

species, but it is not easy. A committee within the DWNP considers such

applications and makes a recommendation to the Natural Resources and

Environment Minister, who is responsible for the final decision. According

to the DWNP, it is extremely unlikely that such a permit would be issued for

commercial purposes. He said he would send the Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) to

investigate the site where the sale took place.

 

As the weeks went by with no news, I grew increasingly concerned. I arranged

to meet Misliah Mohamed Basir, director of the department’s Law and

Enforcement Division. Her office in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, is cluttered with

books on plants and animals and with “trophies” confiscated from the illegal

wildlife trade – a cobra in a bottle, a bird of paradise in a glass case.

 

She confirmed that while the orang asli have the right to use anything in

the forest, they do not have the right sell wildlife without the proper

authorisation. But might an exception be made for them because they are

often among the nation’s “hard-core poor”?

 

Misliah bristled at the thought. “We do not give them any special

treatment,” she said fiercely. “They may have been ignorant of the law in

the past, but not anymore. They’re professionals. If they want to trade in

animals, they must get a licence and follow the rules, just like everybody

else. And we still would not recommend that they be given a special permit

to sell totally protected species.

 

“The middlemen warn their orang asli suppliers about us. When we show up at

their villages, they know who we are and what we’re after. As we go from

house to house, they are ready for us, with no animals in sight and with all

the right answers.”

 

As for the slow loris case, Misliah confirmed my fear that there was nothing

to be done after the fact. “We have to catch them in the act of selling the

animals. Otherwise, it’s just your word against theirs.” She said the DWNP

relies on informers to tip them off when animals are being concealed or when

a sale is going to take place, for that very reason.

 

Chris Shepherd, of TRAFFIC South-East Asia, a non-governmental organisation

which monitors the wildlife trade in the region, said slow lorises were sold

as pets in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

 

“Their captors rip out their teeth with pliers to render them completely

defenceless. If the animal doesn’t die of a mouth infection, it still won’t

last long in captivity. The buyers have no clue about how to feed them or

take care of them. These are wild animals. They should not be kept in

someone’s home.”

 

A TRAFFIC report, Open Season, reveals that slow lorises were commonly

available in the markets of Medan, Indonesia, being observed in more than

90% of the survey counts. Some were sold for “medicinal” uses, while most

were sold as “tame” pets. Despite being protected under Indonesian law, 692

slow lorises were recorded on sale in Medan’s markets between 1997 and 2001.

 

“Many wildlife species in Malaysia and the rest of South-East Asia are going

to disappear before most people are even aware of their existence,” Shepherd

said grimly. “There has got to be more serious penalties for wildlife law

violations, not just a slap on the wrist.”

 

So what is happening in the case I reported? As it turns out, the Perak DWNP

has jurisdiction over the area where the sale took place.

 

“I sent my men to investigate,” says director Shabrina Mohamed Shariff. “All

they saw was a chained monkey. The orang asli said that the man who did the

trapping was away. They also said the slow lorises you saw were for their

own consumption. They denied selling them.”

 

After suggesting that perhaps I was mistaken about what I had seen, Shabrina

admitted that the orang asli might have been lying.

 

“My men are still in the area. We’re going to monitor the site. We will also

ask our informers in the area to be on the alert. But it is difficult to

trap slow lorises, so I don’t know how soon we will catch them with any

again.”

 

Maybe the Perak DWNP will catch these particular orang asli red-handed,

maybe they will not. The odds are that the pair of slow lorises I saw being

sold are already dead, victims of human ignorance and abuse.

 

I am deeply saddened and more convinced than ever of the importance of

reporting suspicious activities with wildlife to the authorities. The DWNP

needs all the public help it can get if Malaysia’s endangered species are to

have any chance of survival.

 

To report a suspected wildlife law violation, contact:

 

Law and Enforcement Division

Wildlife and National Parks Department

Km10, Jalan Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-90752872

Email: pakp

Website: http://www.wildlife.gov.my

 

TRAFFIC South-East Asia

Unit 9-3A, 3rd Floor, Jalan SS23/11

Taman SEA, 47400 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-78803940/Fax: 03-78820171

E-mail: tsea

Website: http://www.traffic.org

 

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