(MY) dark secret

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Thursday August 9, 2007-The Stara

 

 

Kahang's dark secret

 

By MOHD HAIKAL ISA

 

 

THE small Kahang town, known as a sleepy hollow in Johor, has suddenly

come into the limelight recently.

 

The town, located between Kluang and Mersing, is said to be a haven

for locals and Singaporeans who fancy exotic wildlife meals.

 

 

But the town, some 40km from Kluang, harbours an even bigger secret,

according to a tip-off provided by a local biodiversity researcher.

 

" The restaurants which sell exotic food there are only a sideshow.

Poachers employed by syndicates specialising in catching wildlife comb

the rainforest in search of a wide range of protected animals, which

are in high demand abroad, particularly China, " the researcher with an

environmental non-governmental organisation said.

 

The researcher, who declined to be named, said poachers scouting the

Johor and Pahang jungles had turned Kahang into a centre for wildlife

poaching.

 

Kahang is an ideal place for them as the town is surrounded by a

virgin rainforest, including the Endau-Rompin National Park.

 

He said that animals killed by the poachers were kept in stores that

had deep freezers in the jungle and in oil palm estates before being

smuggled into Thailand and subsequently to China.

 

The researcher, who has wide knowledge on poaching in Kahang, said the

stores, known as terminals, were well guarded to prevent the public

from knowing of their existence.

 

He said the wildlife meat and internal organs fetched high prices overseas.

 

 

" The poachers smuggle as many protected animals as possible to meet

the demand for exotic meat abroad. "

 

He said the illegal trade was worth millions of ringgit.

 

" The syndicates have long been operating in and around Kahang. Their

poaching activities are well planned to elude authorities. "

 

He said that tiger paws were sold at between RM300 and RM500 each

while the dried gall bladder of the Malayan Sunbear fetched as high as

RM800.

 

A tiger can cost as high as RM200,000 while porcupine's meat was sold

at RM800 per kg.

 

Bones of the animals were also in high demand at traditional medicine

practitioners and exotic food restaurants abroad.

 

Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) criminal division

deputy director Celescoriano Razond said the lucrative illegal

wildlife trade had encouraged the syndicates to flourish.

 

Razond said that Perhilitan had been tipped off on the syndicates'

operations from time to time but declined to reveal details.

 

According to a Kahang resident, the syndicates hire " tontos " to keep

surveillance on roads leading in an out of the town.

 

" The tontos raise the alarm if there are signs of an impending raid. "

 

According to the researcher, Malaysian wildlife meat and bones are

also in high demand among traditional medicine practitioners in South

Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

" Syndicates also use Mersing jetties to smuggle their contraband to

Singapore, " he said.

 

 

Caged but safe: A Perhilitan staff member watering 900 monkeys

recovered in a raid by enforcement officers.

However, land routes were popular among the syndicates to move their

" prize catch " from Kahang.

 

The syndicates, said the researcher, used coastal roads along the East

Coast to get to the Malaysia-Thailand border.

 

" The route is popular because it is relatively quiet due to low volume

of traffic. "

 

According to Razond, once the wildlife meat arrived at the border town

and was smuggled into Thailand, it would be transported to Laos before

ending up in China. – Bernama