(MY) immediate attention - tycoons buying endangered animals

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Sunday April 13, 2008 - The Star

Tycoons buying endangered animals as 'status symbols'

By STEPHEN THEN

stephenthen

 

MIRI: Powerful towkays in Sarawak cities are paying good money to

native trappers to capture endangered animals to put on display in

their homes as " status symbols. "

 

Their demand has resulted in an increasingly active black market in

exotic wildlife in certain parts of Sarawak, according to information

received by environmental-conservation and native rights group Borneo

Resources Institute.

 

 

Rare animals like the sun bear (above), certain species of monkeys

(below, right), rare birds and rare reptiles are being hunted to be

sold to towkays who keep them in cages and show them off as 'status

symbols', say environment groups in Sarawak.

 

Its Sarawak coordinator Raymond Abin told The Star that middlemen pay

trappers well to hunt and capture the wild endangered animals alive

and unhurt to be sold at high prices to rich men in towns who wish to

display the animals in cages and chains.

 

This new trend only worsens the plight of wild animals already on the

protected and endangered list after being hunted for their meat,

especially those believed to have medicinal properties, he said.

 

Among the most sought after exotic animals for display are endangered

mammals such as bears, rare monkeys, rare birds and even rare

reptiles.

 

Abin was commenting on The Star's reports about a sun bear that died

after it was kept in a tiny cage for more than six months for display

to tourists at a private farm along the Miri-Bintulu Second Coastal

Highway recently.

 

A private farm was said to have a variety of animals including sun

bears, macaques and gibbons.

 

He said the Sarawak Wildlife Department and Sarawak Forestry must

find out how the farm owner got the sun bear.

 

" Unless the link is uncovered and severed by the authorities, this

wildlife trade will not stop.

 

Miri Wildlife Department enforcement chief Abang Arabi Abang Imran

said investigations failed to uncover the sun bear's remains as farm

workers refused to disclose what happened.

 

Sources said yesterday the farm belonged to an influential property

developer and the wildlife department officers were afraid to

interrogate him.

 

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Sunday April 13, 2008

Laws are okay, but enforcement is poor, says UNDP

 

MIRI: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has found

Sarawak to be " extremely weak " in enforcing laws against cruelty to

animals and endangered wildlife.

 

The laws drawn up by the state government were good but there was

something very wrong with the enforcement, said UNDP's expert in

environmental conservation in Sarawak, Dr Alexander Sayok.

 

" I have studied in detail the existing laws in Sarawak governing the

protection and conservation of animals and wildlife, especially

endangered species. Generally, these laws can be classified as good

and tough. As far as I am concerned, these existing laws are adequate.

 

 

Chained: A monkey seen tied up under a house along the Miri-Brunei

highway on Saturday. These protected animals are not supposed to be

kept as pets unless the owners have a licence but there is a lack of

enforcement.

" However, there seems to be something wrong with the implementation

of these laws on the ground. The enforcement is extremely weak and

ineffective. There is not enough enforcement against offenders.

 

" Without effective enforcement, tough laws are of no use, " he said.

 

Dr Sayok, who is helping to coordinate sustainable management of

forest ecosystems, was commenting on the recent report in The Star

concerning the ill treatment of a sun bear in a private farm in Miri

that resulted in its death.

 

The plight of the sun bears was highlighted by South African

expatriate Tweet Gainsborough, who saw these animals being ill treated

and locked up in a small iron cage in the farm, located along the

Miri-Bintulu Second Coastal Highway next to the National Service

Training Camp.

 

Gainsborough has complained to the Miri Wildlife Department, the

Sarawak Forestry and the Miri City Council since August, but nothing

was done to rescue the animals.

 

A farm worker alerted The Star over the death of the sun bear, saying

it died after the owner hid it inside a forested area while it was

still in the small cage, following the expatriate's complaints.

 

Dr Sayok said the UNDP was very concerned over such matters. " We

(UNDP) do not have enforcement powers but we hope the authorities will

do something drastic to improve enforcement, or else the abuse and

cruelty will not stop, " he said.

 

The Sarawak Asset Protection Unit, a wing of the Sarawak Forestry,

raided the private farm two days ago but found all evidence apparently

destroyed.