(MY) critical stage - Malaysian wildlife

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Malaysian wildlife on the way out _ Malaysiakini - Letter to editor

 

Loretta Ann Soosayraj | Oct 17, 08 3:56pm

 

 

The Sambar deer and bearded pig, both occurring in Malaysia, were recently

upgraded to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2008

Red List of Threatened Species – stamping international concern for species

in dire need of increased domestic protection.

 

The Red List ranks species according to their population status and threat

levels both which have increased for many species as a result of habitat

loss and degradation, over-exploitation, pollutants and climate change.

 

The sambar deer (*cervus unicolor*) was upgraded from 'Least Concern' to

'Vulnerable', an urgent wake-up call for Malaysia as the species currently

can be hunted through the issuance of hunting licences.

 

A potential indicator of a possibly depleting supply in the wild is the

number of hunting licences issued by the Department of Wildlife and National

Parks Peninsular Malaysia.

 

'In the last 16 years, there has been a steady decline in the numbers of

licences issued, compared to licenses issued for other species,' said

wildlife biologist Dr. Kae Kawanishi.

 

'The sambar deer populations appear to have plummeted in recent years,' says

Dr Dionysius Sharma, executive director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia, explaining that

WWF-Malaysia field teams did not photograph any sambar deer during their

nine-month-long camera-trapping study in Gunung Basor Forest Reserve,

Kelantan; or during their 2001-2003 study in Terengganu's Jerangau Forest

Reserve.

 

Further, Traffic investigations also reveal that the sambar deer is indeed

in trouble. 'An interview-based survey of hunters and dealers in 18 villages

around major wildlife habitats in Peninsular Malaysia revealed that the

sambar deer is depleted or locally extinct due to hunting in many of the

areas,' said Traffice Southeast Asia Senior Programme Officer Chris R

Shepherd.

 

From 'Least Concern', the bearded pig (*sus barbatus*) is now categorised as

'Vulnerable' because of a population decline, estimated to be more than 30%

over the last three generations, inferred from over-exploitation, shrinkage

in distribution, and habitat destruction and degradation.

 

In Peninsular Malaysia, distribution of the bearded pig is restricted to

Johor and southern Pahang – the final stronghold of the species. 'Protective

action needs to be put in place to secure the last of the peninsula's

population,' said Dr Melvin Gumal, director of the Wildlife Conservation

Society's Malaysia Programme.

 

Also upgraded was the Malayan pangolin Manis javanica, from 'Near

Threatened' to 'Endangered', underlining the severity of the threat of

illegal wildlife trade. According to unreleased Traffic reports, there have

been many seizures of pangolins across Southeast Asia, many originating in

Indonesia and Malaysia.

 

The leopard panthera pardus has also been reclassified from 'Least Concer'n

to 'Near Threatened'. Joining the tiger *P.tigris* on the 'Endangered' list

is the Malayan *tapir Tapirus indicus*.

 

'Malaysia has already lost the Javan rhinoceros *Rhinoceros sondaicus*, the

green peafowl *Pavo muticus *and the white-winged duck *Cairina

scutulata*in the last 50 years, and more may have gone too without us

realising,' said

Malaysian Nature Society Executive Director Dr Loh Chi Leong.

 

'Hope is fading for many, and unless a more cohesive effort is taken

nationally to address this issue, for both species and habitat protection,

Malaysia's key wildlife will face extinction sooner rather than later.'

 

The IUCN Red list is an important science-based conservation tool for

communities, governments and conservation organisations to ensure that local

conservation measures are stepped up accordingly.

 

*View the full list here.

* <http://%20www.redlist.org/>

*The above was jointly issued by the Malaysian Nature Society, Traffic

Southeast Asia, the Wildlife Conservation Society and WWF-Malaysia.

*