(MY) in for the kill

[Guest guest]

Figures don't always paint actual picture-New Straits Times

19 Nov 2006

 

 

 

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KUALA LUMPUR: With each tiger fetching between RM60,000 and RM100,000

in the black market, poachers are still going in for the kill.

 

Although tiger meat reportedly shows up regularly on the menus of

exotic food restaurants, the official tiger poaching rate remains at

one per year.

 

 

 

Since 2001, there has only been eight cases involving tiger and tiger

parts according to official statistics from the Wildlife and National

Parks Department (Perhilitan).

 

" We hear that there are more, but until it's proven, we treat it as

rumours, " said Perhilitan Biodiversity Conservation Division principal

assistant director Abd Kadir Abu Hashim.

 

The eight cases make up slightly over 0.2 per cent of 3,612 recorded

by the department's enforcement personnel between 2001 and 2005.

 

The most recent case was last year's tiger-in-fridge case. The Malayan

Tiger, which was about five years old, was caught in a wire trap, shot

repeatedly and chopped into four pieces before being stored in a

fridge.

 

Plastics factory worker Ang Chun Tan was fined RM7,000, a penalty that

sparked a nationwide outcry that harsher penalties ought to be

imposed.

 

The maximum penalty under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 is a

RM15,000 fine, and a jail term not exceeding five years.

 

Perhilitan Law and Enforcement director Misliah Mohamad Basir said

that current measures include the establishment of a wildlife crime

unit, increasing local support and intensifying border controls.

 

" We have identified 17 entry and exit points in nine states. These are

to be manned at all times. "

 

Misliah added that they have also increased inter-agency co-operation,

namely with the Customs Department, Anti-Smuggling Unit, Immigration

Department and Royal Malaysian Police. The army has also been

collaborating since 2001.

 

Tigers became a totally protected species here in 1976. Two years ago,

the Malayan Tiger was declared a unique sub-species found only in the

Malay Peninsula.

 

Malaysia has between 500 and 1,500 tigers living in the wild.