(MY) WWF saves Malayan Tiger

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http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1013-hance_malayantiger.html

Malayan tiger rescued from poacher's snare proves need for increased

enforcement

**Jeremy Hance*

http://news.mongabay.com/news-index/jeremy_hance1.html

 

October 13, 2009

 

Last week a Malayan tiger (*Panthera tigris jacksoni*) was found with its

front right paw caught in a snare set by poachers. World Wildlife Fund’s

(WWF) Wildlife Protection Unit discovered the snared tiger in the

Belum-Temengor forest, a wildlife-rich reserve that has become a hotspot for

poaching.

 

After finding the wounded tiger the anti-poaching team called in officials

from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) who freed

the great cat. The animal was then transported to Malacca Zoo for treatment.

 

Top: the snared tiger. Bottom: wounded paw caught in the snare. Photos by

WWF-Malaysia.

" This incident clearly demonstrates the need for a stronger

enforcement presence in the Belum-Temengor area. If this isn’t enough of a

clarion call for the government to afford more resources to form an

anti-poaching Task Force, I don’t know what is, " said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius

Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia. " We were lucky this time. Who knows how many

tigers we have already lost? "

 

Malaysia has set up a National Tiger Action Plan to double its number of

animals within 10 years. The plan has set aside the Belum-Temengor forest as

one of three priority conservation regions for the Malayan tiger, one of

seven remaining subspecies of tiger. An estimated 500 Malayan tigers survive

on peninsular Malaysia, an 83 percent plunge from a population estimate

conducted in the 1950s.

 

Belum-Temengor forest is a reserve under attack. Cut by the busy Gerik-Jeli

highway, the ecosystem is easily accessible to poachers. Apart from patrols

performed in collaboration with PERHILITAN and WWF's Wildlife Protection

Unit, the forest is largely unguarded. The patrols have found 101 snares

alone in the past nine months and arrested 10 poachers. The poachers

involved in this incident, however, escaped on motorbikes. Local

conservation groups are calling for more help from the government to tackle

the illegal wildlife trade, which has left forests empty across South East

Asia.

 

Top: cutting the tiger loose. Bottom: readying the animal for transport.

Photos by WWF-Malaysia. " Snares kill indiscriminately. This illegal act of

cruelty should be condemned by the whole society. Despite the harsh penalty

imposed by the law, it has been a major problem to wildlife throughout the

country, " said wildlife biologist Dr Kae Kawanishi a member of the Malaysian

Conservation Alliance for Tigers Secretariat. “In order for the Malaysia to

realize the goal of the National Tiger Action Plan, which is to double the

number of wild tigers in the country by the year 2020, poaching cannot be

tolerated. "

 

The tiger is the world’s largest feline. Listed as Endangered by the IUCN

Red List, the species has been devastated over the past century due to

mostly poaching and habitat loss. large-scale logging and conversion of

tropical forests to agriculture, such as palm oil in Malaysia, has

increasingly shrunken the areas suitable for tigers. In addition, while

hunting tigers as a sport was popular at one time, today tigers are killed

for the black market in Chinese traditional medicine. The trade has spiraled

so out of control that in August a group of poachers broke into Jambi Zoo in

broad daylight in Indonesia; they drugged the resident tiger, skinned her

alive and got away with her body parts to sell.

 

“At the rate tigers are being killed throughout their entire range, they do

not stand a chance, but here in Malaysia, there is still hope of saving

tigers. It will mean increasing enforcement efforts to protect crucial

strongholds such as the Belum-Temengor complex and coming down hard on

poachers,” said Chris R. Shepherd, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia’s Regional Acting. “These poachers are criminals, and are robbing the world of one of

the most amazing species to have ever walked the earth. "

 

Three subspecies of tiger vanished in the 20th Century: the Javan, the

Balinese, and the Caspian tiger. Today the South China (*Panthera tigris

amoyensis*) tiger is the most endangered subspecies. While likely gone from

the wild, there are plans to breed and reintroduce the subspecies from the

remaining 60 or so captive individuals.