(MY) Where a baby orang utan is worth a Mercedes

[Guest guest]

NST Online

2007/09/02

 

Where a baby orang utan is worth a Mercedes

ELIZABETH JOHN

 

Second only to the drug trade, the smuggling of

wildlife can earn a trader big bucks. One trader

shares why smuggling Malaysia's wildlife is easy

pickings with ELIZABETH JOHN

 

IT'S hardly a looker. It's dust-crusted, brown and

slow.

 

But this is one ugly baby worth, literally, its weight

in gold.

 

Meet Geochelone yniphora, Madagascar's endangered

ploughshare tortoise.

 

It's one of the rarest land tortoises in the world and

worth US$8,000 (RM27,000) for a 30cm fella.

 

" More expensive than drugs and easier to smuggle, " was

the simple explanation offered by a young wildlife

trader about the trade.

 

Good takings and few risks drive the roaring illegal

trade in wildlife today. So good that even Italian

organised crime is into the act, claims a trader in

the thick of an industry famed for its complex

networks and secret deals.

 

Red-eyed and weary after a day of " business "

outstation, Kenny (not his real name) sits down for an

hour-long interview on this dark trade.

 

Malaysia may not have a tortoise with a four-figure

dollar value to boast about, he says while answering a

stream of text messages.

 

But it does have a host of wildlife sitting scared on

a global must-have list. With a knowing smile he

speaks of Indonesian baby orang utans ship-ped through

Malaysia to third countries. They fetch prices that

could buy a smuggler a new Mercedes Benz.

 

The primates are taken from the wild in small numbers

for customers in Taiwan, Hong Kong or Europe, for whom

a kitten just won't do.

 

More commonly traded and often by the thousands are

pangolins, civet cats, reptiles and turtles.

 

In the last few years, hundreds of pangolins have been

found skinned and hidden among frozen fish, destined

for overseas.

 

Despite the raids, crates of wildlife still slip past

authorities in Port Klang as well as Malacca and

Penang ports, says Kenny.

 

This comes as no surprise for people like Kenny who

find special pets for an exclusive circle of

" collectors " .

 

There are too few Wildlife and Natural Parks

Department officers at the country’s entry points, he

says, singling out the Kuala Lumpur International

Airport, Penang airport and the Malaysia-Thailand

border.

 

And even when the authorities nab a smuggler, they

have difficulty identifying the wildlife.

 

" Sometimes, I see enforcement (officers) leafing

through books to find out the species.

 

" If they could recognise half the animals we carry,

we'll be in real trouble, man, " he says, shaking his

head in disbelief. When caught, fines and penalties

are a joke.

 

" If I get caught with one pangolin, I may get fined

RM2,000. If I get caught with 200, I'm still fined

RM2,000. Might as well catch and keep the 200, right? "

 

Kenny's is almost a pro on the proposed amendments to

the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972.

 

" Heard about it 10 years ago but still no action. "

 

The law hardly scares smugglers.

 

Then there are the consignment declared as " 50

cobras " . Is any right-minded officer going to open the

box and check if there are 50 or 500? asks Kenny.

 

This is how big-name wildlife traders smuggle

high-profile animals like baby Komodo dragons.

 

" They get a licence to catch or export biawak (monitor

lizards) and a few baby Komodos are thrown into the

box.

 

" Can anyone tell the difference?

 

" The licence costs just a few ringgit. You know how

much Komodos go for? " he asks.

 

Kenny, opens his eyes wide and lifts up five fingers

" US$5,000 " .

 

But the most vexing issue, in Kenny’s mind, is how

easily hunting licences are issued in this country.

 

A multi-page application for a licence to breed

wildlife goes all the way to the Minister of Natural

Resources and Environment for approval.

 

A hunting licence is sold over the counter. It’s cheap

and only a few cursory questions are asked, if any.

 

" Isn't that like supporting killing? " asks the bemused

trader.

 

Few hunters Kenny knows ?and he knows many ?follow

the rules.

 

Most, he says, will hunt more than they are permitted.

 

 

If their licence quota states five head of a

particular animal, they shoot as many as they come

across and only declare the legal number to the

department.

 

The rest are sold to exotic meat restaurants. They

also hunt wildlife they are not licensed to, like

tigers.

 

Who'd pass up the opportunity? Tiger meat can fetch up

to RM200 a kilo and its bones (for medicine) RM1,000.

 

Since hunting isn't allowed after 7pm, the clever ones

just stay over-night in the jungles, continue to hunt

and come out in the morning with their catch ?making

it look legal.

 

There are also those who have guns and no licence, but

shoot for fun. And the bounty goes to? Restaurants.

 

Hunting and restaurants should be the department's

prime concern, Kenny says.

 

Local exotic meat restaurants have connections

throughout Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

 

The demand is high and they are simply taking from the

wild, says Kenny. " They have private stores. "

 

Kenny is defensive about the pet trade and reluctantly

admits that a lot of the wildlife smuggling that goes

on benefits pet stores and traders.

 

But he blames it on poor enforcement.

 

He also justifies the difference between the pet trade

and meat trade this way: The pet trade takes the very

young but the meat trade takes the adults, cutting

reproduction rates and often leaving young ones to

die.

 

Stop handing out hunting licences, ban exotic meat

restaurants, encourage breeding and the authorities

will see a difference, he claims.

 

Whatever the argument, Malaysia has been a wildlife

smuggling hub for a long time now and demand for

wildlife is huge.

 

" Even Thai dealers are sourcing supplies from

Malaysia. "

 

Traders like Kenny are already finding it tough

filling orders for certain wild cats like the clouded

leopard.

 

Is this a worry? No.

 

After all, prices will only go up as the wildlife runs

out.

 

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