(MY) Illegal trade alert sounded on Malaysian zoos

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*Thursday March 4, 2010*

*NGOs: Review issuance of permits for keeping endangered species*

*By JOSHUA FOONG**

**joshuafoong*

 

PETALING JAYA: Several non-governmental organisations have urged the Natural

Resources and Environ­ment Ministry to be stricter in issuing special

permits for keeping endangered species in zoos and animal parks.

 

Various organisations have stepped forward to draw attention to the issue,

following a *Starprobe* report yesterday.

 

Regional director Bill Schaedla of Traffic Southeast Asia, which monitors

the wildlife trade, said zoos with special permits could be conducting

questionable activities.

 

“Zoos with bad track records receiving permits are obviously a thing we find

worrisome.

 

“We hope the Government will carefully evaluate these practices,” he said,

urging the authorities to investigate the acquisition of all protected

species by zoos and animal collections.

 

Small prison: Tiger cubs are usually caged for long hours during

transportation.

 

Schaedla also called for better monitoring of existing holders of permits

and licences for protected wildlife.

 

“A special permit should not imply special treatment under the law,” he told

*The Star.*

 

He said several zoos had cases pending against them for illegal wildlife

trade.

 

“It is difficult to understand why licences continue to be issued to those

who are under investigation by the authorities for involvement in this

trade,” he said.

 

“Zoos which claim to work towards conservation on one hand and then become

involved in the illegal trading of animals on the other are damaging the

very biodiversity that they purport to protect and are deceiving their

visitors.”

 

The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (Mycat) has also pushed for

more action to be taken against errant zoos.

 

It urged the authorities to terminate their permits and licences to prevent

further violations, adding that some had committed repeat offences over the

years.

 

“If effectively policing the activities of zoos is a task too great for the

authorities to handle, considering that their primary responsibility is to

safeguard wildlife in the wild, perhaps only internationally accredited zoos

which do not commit wildlife crimes should be allowed to operate,” it added.

 

It is learnt that the ministry has extended the purview of the existing

taskforce set up by Perhilitan to include the issuance of special permits to

private facilities breeding tigers.

 

The taskforce was set up following a *Starprobe* report last August on

convicted Malaysian wildlife trader Anson Wong.

 

Several Malaysian zoos have been linked to the illegal wildlife trade in the

past.

 

They include Perak Zoo for its involvement in smuggling gorillas and a

mini-zoo in Johor for possessing animals, including 19 tiger cubs, without

permits.

 

*Thursday March 4, 2010*

*Seven cases against popular zoo, says Perhilitan*

*By HILARY CHIEW and JOSHUA FOONG**

**newsdesk*

 

PETALING JAYA: The zoo that came under the spotlight over breeding and

trading in endangered animals has had at least seven run-ins with the

Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) since 2003.

 

These have resulted in two court cases and one compound notice being issued.

The rest are currently at various stages of the legal process, the

department said.

 

The department, however, did not provide details on the nature of the

offences, or the outcome of the court cases.

 

Media reports of some of the seven cases relate to the zoo being in

possession of animals without the requisite permits.

 

As a result of these cases, animals have been seized from the zoo, among

them a baby elephant, two slow lorises, a baby wild boar and an unspecified

number of pythons and storks.

 

The most shocking case was a raid on June 11, 2008, that unearthed 19 tiger

cub carcasses in a freezer in the zoo.

 

Perhilitan, in a statement, said genetic sampling of 10 of the 19 carcasses

showed that they were hybrid species, attesting that they were cubs bred in

the zoo and not from the wild.

 

The zoo keeper explained that the carcasses were accumulated over a period

of at least three years.

 

“We inform Perhilitan of every tiger birth and death. The carcasses are kept

until Perhilitan comes to check.”

 

On the high mortality of tiger cubs, the keeper said: “They died from the

cold during the rainy season or because their mothers were not good at

taking care of them. But we have improved now. There are fewer cubs dying.”

 

As to the raids, he said that there had been 11 since 2003.

 

“I am not sure about the progress of the court cases.”

 

The zoo is one of three facilities that caught the attention of NatureAlert,

an organisation based in Britain that fights for the welfare and protection

of orang utan.

 

It sent its observation report on the facilities to Perhilitan last month,

and is awaiting a response on action to be taken by the department.

 

In its report, a copy of which was made available to *The Star*, NatureAlert

director Sean Whyte questioned the inhumane and filthy living conditions of

the pair of orang utan at the facility, which he believed contravened at

least two provisions of wildlife law.

 

The report cautioned that the zoo was a potential breeding ground for

zoonotic diseases that not only threatened the animals but also zoo

visitors.

 

It further queried the perceived immunity enjoyed by the zoo management

despite the string of offences.

 

It pointed to Section 44 (1) of the Wildlife Act, which stipulates that

first offenders should have their licence suspended. Subsequent convictions

should result in disqualification from holding a licence for five years.

 

However, the zoo continues to operate and announce new additions to its

collection.

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