Category: conservation, poaching, threats | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

TIGER RESCUE POINTS TO URGENT NEED FOR MORE PATROLS

——————————————————————————— 

The rescue of a tiger from a snare set by poachers near the Gerik-Jeli highway yesterday should set alarm bells ringing for the remaining wild tigers in the Belum-Temengor forests, one of the last strongholds for this species and other mammals in Malaysia. 

The five-year-old male tiger was freed from its snare by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) officers after it was discovered late yesterday by WWF’s Wildlife Protection Unit (WPU), which conducts regular patrols together with PERHILITAN in the area. The tiger has been taken to the Malacca Zoo for treatment. 

The WPU rangers on a routine patrol had earlier detected two men on motorcycles near the site who fled when they saw the WPU rangers approach.  When rangers returned to check the area, they found the tiger with its front right paw caught in a snare. 

The snare had been set on a ridge in a forested area near the Perak-Kelantan border, not too far from the highway. 

The Belum-Temengor forest complex is one of three priority areas identified in the National Tiger Action Plan. It is also part of an area of global priority for Tiger conservation. Yet it is highly vulnerable to encroachment and poaching due to its proximity to the porous Malaysia-Thai border and among the most easily accessible because of the 80-km long Gerik-Jeli highway that cuts across the landscape, providing hundreds of easy entry points for poachers. 

Apart from the PERHILITAN-WPU joint patrols, this vast and wildlife-rich forest complex and its highway are not systematically or thoroughly patrolled, making it an open target for poachers. 

In the past year alone, PERHILITAN and the WPU have also recorded numerous encroachers in Perak’s jungles, particularly near the Belum-Temengor area, with the most recent incident in August, when a Thai national was caught by the police with pangolin scales and agarwood in the forest near the highway. 

PERHILITAN, Police and the WPU have worked together to remove 101 snares and arrest 10 poachers in the last nine months. But there is a need for other government agencies to join in this difficult fight against wildlife crime. 

Research carried out in the area by WWF and TRAFFIC has indicated that the rescued tiger is very likely just one of many that have been poached in the area.  Illegal hunting in the Belum-Temengor area is rampant and the demand for tigers continues to drive criminals into the forest to kill the remaining ones. 

“If the WPU rangers had not spotted the suspected poachers the story might have been very different  for that tiger. We were lucky this time. Who knows how many tigers we have already lost?” said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius Sharma, CEO of 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,” he added. 

The official estimate of the wild tigers in Peninsular Malaysia is only 500, a sharp decline from 3000 estimated in the 1950s, explained wildlife biologist Dr Kae Kawanishi.  

“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 Kae 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,” she added. 

“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 Director.    

“These poachers are criminals, and are robbing the world of one of the most amazing species to have ever walked the earth”, he said.

The front paw of the tiger caught in the snare.
- Pictures courtesy of WWF Malaysia

Note to Editor:For further information on the incident, kindly contact Puan Shabrina Shariff, Director of Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Email: shabrina@wildlife.gov.my 

For further information on press release and pictures:Sarah Sukor, Communications Officer, Tiger and Rhino Conservation Programme, WWF Malaysia, Tel: 012 3060404, Email: ssara@wwf.org.my  

Elizabeth John, Senior Communications Officer, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Tel: 012 2079790, E-mail: jlizzjohn@yahoo.com

  ==============================================================================Related posting news about this incident:

http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=38664 

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/10tig/Article/index_html

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/5/nation/4843387&sec=nation

==============================================================================  Please Wong’s notes: read more about the poaching and the snaring of wildlife in malaysian rainforest:

http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/10/25/we-need-your-help-to-protect-wildlife-in-malaysia/   

“  Snares are by far any wildlife and conservationists’ nightmare. Snares are easy to make and set, cheap, light to carry, and most importantly, they are effective! You will be amazed with how similar the mechanism of snares across different continents in the world and low long human have been using the same kind of design for snaring wildlife simply because they works. In order to increase the efficiency of these snares, most hunters or poachers would construct a simple fence on the forest floor for kilometers and left little “gap” or “opening” where the loop of the snares is set. When an animal traveling on the forest floor and come across the fence, they tend to follow the fence and funneled to the little gap and they try to across the fence through that little opening where poachers already set the deathly loop on the floor awaited for their kills. As you can imagine, these snares are set by hundreds as they are cheap and easy to carry into the forest interior. What make snares a true nightmare for everyone who care about wildlife is that they do not discriminate what species of wildlife can be their next victim. Willdife as small as a pheasants, mousedeer, pangolins, civets, muntjacts, wild boar, deer, bears, and all the way range to large mammals like rhinos and elephants are some of the common victims of snares. Now is a tiger! 

Tags: conservation, poaching, snaring, sun bear, threats, tiger

No responses yet

Category: conservation, poaching, sun bear in the wild, threats | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Smugglers’ boatload of wildlife

2009/09/14

ROMPIN: Marine police foiled an attempt to smuggle out about 12 tonnes of exotic animals using a fishing boat in Tanjung Gemuk near here on Saturday.

Two suspects, in their 40s and 50s, were arrested while they were busy transferring 18 boxes containing live and dead animals from a lorry onto a boat at an old jetty about 3am. Among the animals and their parts seized were sunbear, monitor lizards and owls.

Marine police Region 3 Operation division head Deputy Superintendent Mohd Hassan Hasyim said investigations showed the suspects had brought the exotic animals from Tanjung Malim.

“They planned to load the animals into the fishing boat before transferring the consignment into another vessel at sea.
“We believe that the animals were destined for a neighbouring country to be sold at restaurants there,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Hassan said it was the first of such case this year and the Marine police would hand over the seized animals and parts to the Wildlife and National Parks Department.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/6bear/Article/index_html

================================================ 

Wong’s notes: There is no doubt that wildlife smuggling in Malaysia is on the rise. Each of the wildlife smuggling that police seized represent a tip of an iceberg. If immediate and effective actions to stop wildlife poaching and smuggling are not taken soon, the rainforest in Malaysia will soon join the list of “empty forests syndrome.”    

Empty Forest Syndrome?

Read more about it at http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0118-hance_hunting.html

Here is what was written by WCS about the bushmeat crisis in Congo Basin, Africa.:

————————————-

 Empty Forest Syndrome

Hunting can still be sustain able where human population density is low, and where law enforcement authorities, or other management systems, control the quantity of meat exported to urban areas.However, as industrial activities such as logging open up previously inaccessible areas of the forest through the construction of roads, and population density grows in logging villages and urban centers, the demand for bushmeat increases, making sustainable exploitation of wildlife nearly impossible. This not only threatens wildlife populations but also the livelihoods and food security of the traditional peoples that depend on them.

Although deforestation poses a significant threat to the survival of the forested landscapes in the Congo Basin, many scientists are now agreed that it is the bushmeat trade that is the greatest threat to the ecosystem. Not only does unsustainable hunting leave the forest empty of wildlife, but the plant-animal interactions that facilitate forest regeneration and maintenance are lost. 

==================================== 

Wong’s notes: Interestingly, the situation described above sound familiar to what I saw in Borneo and other part Malaysia and Indonesia. Ironically the authority in Malaysia always denies and shies away from the topic of wildlife poaching and smuggling. IF in the future when we hear less on the news reports on the wildlife poaching and smuggling, perhaps it is not because of the authority has done a good job to prevent such crime from happening, but the wildlife population in the country has been wiped out to the brinks of extinction. I hope I am wrong. 

——————————————————————-http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20090811211703/Article/index_html

Malaysia Ministry denies allegation of wildlife smuggling

2009/08/11

MARAN, Tues: Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup has denied allegations that Malaysia is the world’s largest wildlife smuggling centre. He said the government would not compromise on the smuggling of wildlife and had taken stern action against culprits who committed such offences.

“We admit that such an activity exists, but we always take stern action against the culprits,” he told reporters after launching the Rakan Alam Sekitar campaign here today.

He was commenting on a recent report in an English daily that Malaysia had become the world’s largest wildlife smuggling centre.
Kurup said amendments to the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 were being drafted to provide heavier penalties against those who committed offences related to wildlife and national parks. — BERNAMA

Tags: conservation BSBCC, hunting, Malaysia, owls, poaching, police, sun bear, threats

6 responses so far

Category: conservation, poaching, sun bear in the wild, threats | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Malaysian police seize smuggled bear parts, owls

(AP) — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian police say they have seized more than $100,000 worth of dead owls, bear paws and live monitor lizards and arrested two men on suspicion of trying to smuggle them abroad.

Mohamad Hassan Hashim, a marine police official in eastern Terengganu state, says two Malaysian men were caught Sunday loading the protected wildlife into a boat.

He says police found 33 sun bear parts, 264 dead owls and 4,800 live monitor lizards, worth some 350,000 ringgit ($100,300) in all. The lizards will be released into the wild.

<!– if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) { document.write(”); } –>Mohamad Hassan said Monday the men could face up to three years in prison if charged with and found guilty of possessing protected wild animals.

© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Tags: conservation BSBCC, hunting, Malaysia, owls, poaching, police, sun bear, threats

One response so far

Category: conservation, poaching, sun bear in the wild | Date: Aug 26 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

http://www.traffic.org/home/2009/8/26/bear-paws-turn-up-in-nationwide-raids.html

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26 August 2009—Malaysia’s wildlife authority has seized several protected animals and parts of wildlife including bear paws, in a string of raids across the country in the last two weeks.

On August 11, the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) found four bear paws in the cold room of a licensed trader’s store in the town of Kemaman in Terengganu, a state on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Two days later, officers found an elephant tooth in a home in Triang, Pahang. On 18 August, several species of wildlife illegally kept in a shop in Sri Kembangan, in Selangor were discovered. They included two Reticulated Pythons and a pair of Water Monitors.

They also found six Black-crowned Night-herons, three Painted Storks and two Thick-billed Green-pigeons.

No arrests were made in connection with the raids.

The bear paws confiscated from a trader’s cold room. Click photo to enlarge © TRAFFIC Southeast Asia   

Meanwhile on 16 August, police nabbed a Thai poacher and recovered scales of a pangolin and six sacks of agarwood (gaharu).

The arrest was made in a forested area just off the Gerik-Jeli Highway in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex in the northern state of Perak, which shares a border with Thailand.

Police were acting on information provided by WWF’s Wildlife Protection Unit (WPU), which regularly patrols the area with other enforcement agencies.

The 55-year-old poacher from Chiang Rai was among a party of five poachers ambushed by police. Four others escaped, leaving behind a camp stocked with 30 kilogrammes of rice and other essentials – indicating they were planning long-term operations.

The man now faces charges under three separate laws. Gerik District Police Chief, Superintendent Mahad Nor bin Abdullah, confirmed that the poacher would be charged under Section Six of the Immigration Act, for illegally entering the country. The poacher will also face charges under Section 64 (2) (a) of the Protection of Wildlife Act for possession of the Pangolin scales and Section 15 of the Forestry Act, for collecting agarwood without a licence.

Cases involving foreign poachers like this one, in Perak’s forests, are becoming an issue of increasing concern, with several cases already documented so far this year.

These forests are home to many of the world’s most threatened mammals, including Sumatran Rhinos, Malayan Tigers and Asian Elephants.

The Belum-Temengor forest complex is also part of an area of global priority for Tiger conservation, yet it is one of the most accessible areas because of the 80-km long Gerik-Jeli highway that cuts across this landscape, providing hundreds of easy entry points for poachers.

Sacks of agarwood (gaharu) left at an abandoned poachers’ camp in Belum-Temengor Forest Complex where one man was arrested Click photo to enlarge © WWF Malaysia

“Together with Perhilitan and Police, the WPU have jointly-removed over 73 snares and arrested nine poachers in the last seven months in this very area,” said Ahmad Zafir, leader of the WPU. “Camera traps set up to capture wildlife pictures for research also often capture photographs of poachers.”

“Intelligence-led investigations are needed to remove the masterminds and backers behind the scourge of poaching and illegal trade,” says Chris R. Shepherd, Acting Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

“Ridding the forests of poachers is an on-going and important task, but it is essential to remove the main culprits behind the scenes – the big dealers running the show,” he added

Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia, urged the government to form a multi-agency task force to address the problem.

“While Perhilitan, police and the WPU have been doing a good job so far, stopping armed poachers is dangerous work that needs the support of many agencies,” he said.

Perhilitan’s Legislation and Enforcement Division Director Saharudin Anan said the department would add three more posts along the country’s border with Thailand and would soon host the first bilateral meeting between the two countries, on wildlife enforcement issues.

Tags: conservation BSBCC, hunting, poaching, sun bear, threats

One response so far

Category: conservation, poaching, threats | Date: Aug 16 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

By HILARY CHIEW
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/10/starprobe/4369565&sec=starprobe

KUALA LUMPUR: In 2006, Taiwanese authorities seized a three-tonne shipment of ivory from Tanzania worth RM25mil that had transited Penang port.

An Indian national who was caught with an illegal consignment of Indian star tortoises at the KL International Airport in 2007 said he was paid to bring it into the country for a Malaysian buyer.

In the second half of 2008, 167 pangolins were seized in four enforcement cases in Muar, indicating that the coastline was a thriving entry point for the anteaters from Indonesia. It is believed that the pangolins were destined for the restaurant and traditional medicine trade, as well as the mainland Chinese market.

Early this year, genetic fingerprinting of seized tiger parts in southern Thailand shows that the Malaya tiger, endemic to Malaysia and numbering only 500 in the wild, have been blatantly poached and smuggled through our land borders.

These are some of the cases that point to illegal trafficking of wildlife and its parts, and to Malaysia being a transit point, a source country, as well as a consumer hub for endangered wildlife.

 Globally, Interpol estimated the illegal trade to be worth US$10bil (RM35bil) to US$20bil (RM70bil) a year. Conservation groups like the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have declared wildlife trade the second biggest direct threat to species survival, after habitat destruction.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) did not respond to requests for the value of animals confiscated last year, but a conservative estimate based on media reports shows that at least RM5mil worth of wildlife was seized in Malaysia last year.

Wildlife trafficking is a trade so lucrative that it is said to rank second after drug trafficking, especially when there is no death penalty to fear in most countries.

Take the pangolin, for instance. According to wildlife trade researchers the creature’s scales and meat are sought after for its purported properties to alleviate rheumatic pains. And as an aphrodisiac too of course, as any purveyor of exotic meat would sell you the idea. That is why pangolins can fetch as much as RM150 per kg or RM500 per animal in the black market.

Traffic, a wildlife trade-monitoring network, fears that the illegal trade in pangolins is already out of control with large shipments of animals being smuggled across numerous international borders, often by the lorry load, to their final destination in China.

It says that shipments busted by Perhilitan are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What slips through the net are far more than one can estimate, in the millions of ringgit over the years.

The rampant smuggling of pangolins has forced Perhilitan to acknowledge that Malaysia has become both an attractive supply and transit country.

Its deputy enforcement director Celescoriano Razond said he feared that international syndicates had turned the country into their main source – not just for pangolin but other wildlife species too.

There have been numerous confiscations of Indian star tortoises at the KLIA with arrests of Indian and Malaysian nationals, yet the smugglers are undeterred. The shipments still come in and the authorities have no other choice but to maintain constant vigilance.

Until recently, the Indian star tortoise from the Indian sub-continent that was banned from export was easily available in local pet shops. The palm-sized exotic pet with star-like markings on its shell was sold at between RM100 and RM150 per creature.

In cases where the illegal shipments of Indian star tortoises were foiled, the authorities have found suitcases packed with the animal, some up to 2,000 pieces in one suitcase.

Perhilitan returns seized consignments to the country of origin but the syndicates involved remain at large.

Existing laws and inadequate manpower remain the biggest setbacks in tackling this scourge. The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 offers no protection for any turtle or tortoise species. A revised law, scheduled to be tabled in Parliament this year, is supposed to plug this particular loophole. However, a check on the draft bill showed that this reptile family is still being left out.

Azrina Abdullah, the immediate ex-director of Traffic, lamented the low fines and reluctance of the courts to put the culprits behind bars. In 2006, conservationists were appalled that a RM7,000 fine (maximum fine is RM15,000) was slapped on a poacher from Tumpat, in Kelantan, for possessing a chopped up tiger in his fridge, instead of the maximum five-year imprisonment. The black market value of a tiger is reported to be US$50,000 (RM180,000).

Currently, fines range from RM1,000 to RM15,000 and imprisonment from a minimum of one year to 10 years. The authorities have indicated a 100% increase in fines and a maximum jail term of 12 years in the pending new law.

Among the issues that need to be addressed is the issuance of special permits by Perhilitan to theme parks, private zoos and individuals for keeping an animal. There is fear that permits given would provide the holders a cover to launder illegal specimens.

At the regional level, a lack of law enforcement and poor investigation are obstacles to efforts in stemming this exploitation of biodiversity of a country and its neighbours.

Recognising that no country can fight this scourge on its own, governments in the region formed in 2005 a regional anti-wildlife trafficking network aimed at sharing intelligence and improving regional enforcement collaboration.

The 10-member Asean – Wildlife Enforce­ment Network (Asean-WEN) is the world’s largest entity of its kind. Despite the heightened awareness among law enforcers and seemingly higher number of seizures, it remains unclear if the network has managed to cripple the syndicates or apprehend the masterminds behind this hideous crime against nature.

Tags: illegal trade, Malaysia, poaching, sun bear, willdife

No responses yet

Category: poaching | Date: Jun 10 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

http://www.traffic.org/home/2009/5/26/arrest-of-cambodians-highlights-rising-poaching-concerns-in.html

Tags: Malaysia, poaching, wildlife

No responses yet

Category: poaching, threats | Date: May 05 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

In view of the recent incident where armed poachers lay siege of the forest office base, there has been many concerns and comments from the readers. Thank you all for your comments. You all raised appropriate concerns over the incident, both to the wildlife that loss their lives in these massacres, as well as the protectors of wildlife who almost loss their life on duty.

As the wildlife habitat shrinking as we speak due to human activities in these wild land, the value of each existing individual wildlife is even higher. Each and every single one of them is important to the survival of the population and later on the entire species. There are so many species of wildlife on Earth that has been whipped out in so many places on Earth. The extinction of a species will never be reversible. Borneo is the last stronghold of magnificent SE Asian’s wildlife. This island is considered as one of the last secure place for many wildlife species.

Yet, we as a dominant species on Earth, we destroyed their habitat in many ways in the name of modern development, wealth, demand to meet someone’s needs and greed. This kind of killing should not take place in the first place. But yet, it happened. We have to stop this act no matter what!

Here is what you can help to improve our wildlife protection in Malaysia:

1) Show supports to the staff of Sabah Forestry Department who injured in the line of duty. Write to the director of the forestry department at http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/more/contact.asp to show your support and urge them to continue the protection of the forest and wildlife.

2) Sign the petition that was set up the at http://www.petitiononline.com/MYLaw/petition.html. The petition was set up last year and wishes to collect 100,000 signatures by June 2009. It seem impossible now because pathetically only 4849 signatures have been collected up until today. Anyway you can read more at sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/10/25/we-need-your-help-to-protect-wildlife-in-malaysia/ and relevant posting on this blog.

3) Support conservation work in Sabah by supporting LEAP’s work at http://www.leapspiral.org/main.html. LEAP is an NGO base in Sabah that created BSBCC. Please visit their brand new website and learn more about our works! http://www.leapspiral.org/Thank you all for your supports!

Tags: poaching, wildlife

No responses yet

Category: conservation, poaching, sanctuary, threats | Date: May 04 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009050125653/National-news/Sun-bears-seized-in-Ratanakkiri.html

Sun bears seized in Ratanakkiri

 TWO sun bears are settling into their new enclosure at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre after arriving Thursday from Ratanakkiri province following their rescue from a wildlife trader by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT).

Seven members of WRRT, a government task force managed by the Forestry Administration with support from conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance, stormed the home of 36-year-old Eng Syda after an investigation carried out by the team confirmed the location of the bears.

After praising the WRRT team on a successful rescue operation, Nick Marx of Wildlife Alliance - who examined the cubs and said they appeared to be in good health - said the feisty male and placid female are probably siblings.

“Chances are the mother was killed,” Marx said. “A mother bear is going to fight to protect her babies, so in most cases trappers will kill the mother to get to the cubs.”

Koy Visedh, WRRT project manager, said the bears were discovered hidden in net sacks in the toilet of the offenders’ home.

“This is the third time we’ve received information regarding these bears,” Koy Visedh said, adding that the previous two attempts to locate the trader earlier this month had failed.

New information was received late last week and an operation was planned by the team, which drove to Ratanakkiri overnight Monday so as not to arouse suspicion, Koy Visedh said.

After a WRRT officer confirmed their location Tuesday afternoon, the other officers waiting nearby with local authorities moved in on the house, he added.

Dubious tale
Eng Syda told police he bought the three-month-old cubs in Stung Treng province seven months ago, a statement that cast doubt on his testimony, Koy Visedh said. He was held overnight for questioning before being charged with possession of a rare species.

Despite being recognised internationally as endangered, sun bears are considered rare under Cambodian law, meaning penalties for possessing them are less severe.

According to the law, if found guilty, Eng Syda could be fined up to three times the market value of the animals, which can be around US$3,000.

Ten to 15 bears on average are confiscated in Cambodia each year by WRRT, officials said. Five have been rescued by WRRT this year.

After their slow two-day journey in heavy rain on bumpy roads to their new home, the bears were eager to leave their cage to explore new surroundings. The cubs, which still require bottle-feeding, are being cared for by Free the Bears at Phnom Tamao.

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON A member of the WRRT walks the two rescued bear cubs to their new enclosure at Phnom Tamao Thursday. 

Tags: Cambodia, Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, sun bear

3 responses so far

Category: poaching | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Press Release: Forestry Department. Sandakan

Armed Men Lay Siege Of The District Forestry Office BaseCamp At Ulu Segama Forest Reserve, Lahad Datu 

On the evening of 2nd April 2009, at about 09:00p.m., a group of some 20 men, armed withmachetes, brass knuckles, hockey sticks, samurai swords, rambo knives, sticks and othercontraptions, laid siege of the Ulu Segama-Malua District Forestry Office Base Camp, atSungai Kawag, Ulu Segama Forest Reserve, Lahad Datu, some 45km from the junction of theLahad Datu-Kunak Highway. 

In the one hour incident, the District Forestry Officer, Indra Sunjoto, was dragged, slashed,beaten up repeatedly and left unconscious. He ended up badly bruised, bloodied with a gushwound on his head which required several stitches and subsequent specialist treatment. Atthe same time, other staff who tried to come to the aide of the District Forestry Officer werethreatened with bodily harm by the intruders, brandishing their weapons and contraptions.

It is believed that the group of men are those who have habitually entered Ulu Segama ForestReserve, including the INFRAPRO Forest Restoration area, to carry out illegal poaching forwild animals. The records show that, not only deer are hunted, but other wildlife, includingprotected species (elephants, clouded leopards etc.) that are shot at random. The siege mayhave been triggered by action taken earlier in the day by the District Forestry Officer toapprehend a suspected illegal hunter, who managed to escape but had his bounty of fresh deermeat and motorcycle confiscated. 

The group of men also damaged Forestry Department vehicles parked in the base camp, theransacking of the labourers quarters, and the carting away of food, the confiscated meat andseveral confiscated motorcycles, including that seized on the same day.During the incident, it was unfortunate that the police could not be contacted in time as the telecommunication system had broken down in Ulu Segama. Furthermore, the intruders broke and forced their way through the guard posts manned by both Forestry Department and Yayasan Sabah staff along the road to the base camp. 

This incident is a culmination of earlier skirmishes with illegal hunters in Ulu Segama thatincluded: intimidation and threatening of Yayasan Sabah, WWF and Forestry Departmentstaff in the field, with weapons to cause bodily harm and physical assault in one case.It would appear that the perpetrators, believed to be substance abusers, were in a highlyintoxicated state during the siege.

The Forestry Department would like to thank the police, in particular, the Commissioner andthe OCPD Lahad Datu, for taking swift action to make arrests of several suspects and it isbelieved, investigations are still ongoing for eventual charging in court. 

As an interim measure to boost security in Ulu Segama, the Forestry Department, despite thehigh costs, has now engaged the services of a security firm with armed personnel, to guardthe base camp and Forestry Department personnel carrying out patrols. The police has alsokindly allocated personnel from the General Operations Force (PGA) on rotation basis, tobeef up security in Ulu Segama Forest Reserve.

As a long-term measure, the Forestry Department is in the process of reviving and applyingfor a gun licence, so that field personnel in critical areas, can at least defend themselves, inthe event of attacks from intruders. 

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the group of men who attacked the base camp, are believedto be local Malaysians, who reside in a settlement, some 2 hours drive from the base camp.Such an incident, whereby, public officers have been assaulted and public propertiesdamaged, has not happened in the department for decades. The last known assault of thisnature, was in 1954, whereby the District Forestry Officer, Lahad Datu, was sadly killed byforeign pirates in Semporna, while carrying out his duties. 

Evidently, based on the words uttered by the perpetrators, the siege was meant to intimidatethe Forestry Department, particularly its field staff, so as to let the illegal hunting to go onwithout hindrance, on the excuse of “cultural harvesting.” 

Evidently also, it was a warning to the District Forestry Officer, not to meddle and to takeaction on illegal activities in the reserve. There is also reason to believe, the assault wasmeant to hurt the District Forestry Officer badly if not to maim and perhaps, to finish him off, altogether. 

This incident cannot be taken as an isolated case as it appears to have been planned formaximum damage. Furthermore, the state’s collaborative programmes with internationalNGOs and other entities in the area, will be badly affected if incidences of illegal hunting andassaults continue. These projects include: the Yayasan Sabah Research Programme with theRoyal Society of the United Kingdom at Danum Valley, the FACE Foundation ForestRestoration Project at Ulu Segama, with the FACE Foundation of The Netherlands, the WWFForest Restoration Programmes at the Northern Ulu Sgama area funded by the AddesiumFoundation of The Netherlands, and Marks & Spencers of the United Kingdom and therecently launched, Malua Bio-Bank Project at Malua Forest Reserve. The eco-tourismfacilities owned by Yayasan Sabah, Borneo Rainforest Lodge, will also eventually be badlyaffected by illegal hunting thus jeopardising tourism. 

The actions of a few irresponsible elements may potentially jeopardise the long-termreputation of Sabah in particular, and the country in general, as a safe haven for eco-tourism,ecological and scientific research projects, coupled with forest restoration, on an internationaleffort. 

The Forestry Department therefore, considers this incident as very serious and have fullconfidence in the Royal Malaysia Police, Sabah Contingent, in apprehending the suspects andhaving them charged in court for appropriate offences, and to prevent further occurrences.This press release appears as a matter of public record and for public information.

*********************** 

PHOTOS

Photo OneDistrict Forestry Officer attempting to use the phone after being attacked. Notice his bloodiedhead. Photo TwoSmashed up Forestry Department vehicle in the base camp. Photo ThreeWash basin broken in an attempt to smash the District Forestry Officer’s head against it. Photo FourDead female Bornean pygmy elephant. Believed shot at random by illegal hunters in Ulu Segama. District Forestry Officer standing by it. Photo FiveDecapitated and skinned deer meat confiscated in Ulu Segama. Photo SixDead clouded leopard, in the FACE Foundation area, shot by illegal hunters. Photo SevenA male tembadau in Malua. Carcases have been found in the Ulu Segama-Malua SFM Project Area.

11 responses so far

Category: poaching | Date: Mar 19 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Tell us about your organisation.
Traffic was set up in the 1970s, after the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is an international convention of which Malaysia is one of its members. This convention enables countries to cooperate in the monitoring of the international trade of plants and animals, including local wildlife species. Traffic is a joint programme with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature. We monitor both legal and illegal wildlife trade including plants. The Southeast Asia team started off with only three people in its Kuala Lumpur office which was set up in 1991. Today we have expanded to 25 personnel within the region – KL, Hanoi, Bangkok and Jakarta. We are the biggest Traffic office in the world and the only NGO that has a memorandum of understanding with the Cites secretariat to develop training material and provide information and resources on the wildlife trade.

Every so often, we hear reports of wildlife shipments being confiscated or seized, just how bad is this trade in Malaysia or the region?
Malaysia has the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which was a good start compared to other countries, which did not have such laws earlier. Despite the Act and Cites Act passed in 2007, we are seeing an increase in the illegal wildlife trade in Malaysia. If you look at sales – I’m not saying that the trade of all species but some have gone up. The sales of pangolin, for example, have gone up significantly. It is the most popular species that is smuggled, especially to China in frozen form for the meat trade and the traditional medicine market which uses its scales. You cannot breed pangolins or keep them as pets.Hence, with the illegal trade itself, it is a worrying trend in Malaysia and nearby countries. First, we have an efficient transport network and good ports, that in itself is an advantage for the smugglers. Basically it facilitates, indirectly, a lot of smuggling because you don’t expect the enforcement agency to scan or check every cargo that passes through Port Klang, for example.

What animals are protected in Malaysia?
According to the Perhilitan website, in Peninsular Malaysia, there are 740 local species and 1,856 exotic species, which are listed under Cites and protected under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (Act 76). There are two categories of protection – “protected” and “totally protected”. (see full list at www.wildlife.gov.my)

What made Malaysia not just one of the top 10 global hubs for wildlife trafficking but also a harvest and transit point?
Yes, we are among the top 10 smuggling hubs together with the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and the United States. Vietnam is also catching up.As for the harvest point … it is because Southeast Asia is rich in bio-diversity. Recent seizures of tigers, fresh water turtles and pangolins reflect their abundance. They are not from outside but harvested in Malaysia.Pangolins have a zero quota and are not for trade even though under Appendix II of the convention you can trade in them. Yet, you still find people trying to smuggle it because of the high demand and value of its meat. But you do see a lot of species like fresh water turtles being heavily harvested. It again goes back to our good infrastructure and geographical location in the centre of the region. We have got one of the best infrastructures in the region and that makes it easy for the smugglers to transport the animals. We have seen more reports of seizures at sea, especially in Johor, and at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang International Airport. However, we have not seen many seizures in Penang lately, we do not know if they are not reported or whether Perhilitan has not released the records of their seizures.

Are there buyers in Malaysia?
Yes, there are Malaysian buyers. In addition, there is also a new trend – trading through the Internet, and the buyers are both Malaysians and foreigners. There are a number of Malaysian websites that sell rare and endangered species. For example, the Madagascar tortoise is being sold widely through the Internet and there is no way of tracing the sellers because most of the time the information on their sites is insufficient to show if they are individuals or companies and their contact numbers are not registered.

Can you tell us how some of the smuggling is done?
Some of the popular methods include strapping birds eggs to the body, coiling snakes into stockings, hiding reptile eggs in clothing and stuffing birds into plastic tubes. Most of the time the most creative smugglers are not Malaysians. But there have been many cases where the Malaysian smugglers stacked up the legal load of dangerous animals like snakes, or the ones that bite, on the top of the box and hide the illegal and less dangerous ones at the bottom. So, there is no way the Customs officers are going to put their hands into the box, although it is their duty to check. They are supposed to check but if you look at the quantity of cargo and containers and the number of items in them, how do you check them all? Even with frozen fish, they pack the legal meat on top and illegal meat in the bottom. The methods are often the same.There are ways of checking if the enforcement officers go through every single box or cargo. I mean it’s not impossible but it is time consuming and the items have to be sent for lab testing. The procedures are tedious with the amount of paper work involved. Not that I am defending them and saying that they need to get rid of paper work, it is their job to protect the wildlife but the lack of manpower and resources often come in the way.Recently, there was a report about a man caught with live pigeons stuffed into each leg of the tights he was wearing under his trousers.

A few years ago, there was this woman who was caught at an Australian airport; she was wearing a huge skirt and when she was passing through the Customs, one of the officers saw that her skirt was moving, and when they checked, they found she had sewn pockets on the skirt to hide little bags of live fish.

The funny ones, tend to be in Thailand, going through the airport or up to Laos or to the borders.

Who are those involved? Are they collectors, businessmen or criminals?
It depends. Most are mules who do not know who the buyers are or where the item will end up. Some of those caught with wild orchids are collectors. There were even researchers who posed as tourists, and tried to smuggle wild orchids and seeds from Kota Kinabalu Park and got caught at the airport. Even ordinary people buy animal body parts for medicine but they do not know these are smuggled items and it is the same with pets, people don’t really know some of the animals they buy in the pet stores may be smuggled animals, especially when they are rare.

Why do you think smugglers are willing to go through so much trouble?
The risk is low and the profits are very high. If someone were caught for drug trafficking, the maximum penalty would be death. But when someone is found guilty of wildlife trafficking or smuggling, the maximum they would get is probably a few hundred ringgit fine. Another important factor is that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to show that certain products contain protected species’ parts. Sometimes the smugglers are just fined RM50 or RM60.

 What are the most easily smuggled animals?
It depends on how creative the smugglers are and – not that I am encouraging people – reptiles, especially tortoises, are one of the easiest to smuggle because at a certain temperature, you can easily bundle them up. The Madagascar tortoises are popular.

Where do smugglers get these animals from?
Selangor is one of the top illegal harvesting points in the peninsula for fresh water turtles. The surrounding states are also high on the list. We also see a lot of wildlife going to Johor and even KL, but it depends on what the wildlife will be used for, decorative items, food, pets or medicines.

What is the best way to curb this illegal trade?
It boils down to the police, Customs and Perhilitan (Wildlife and National Parks Department) ensuring that the provisions in the law are fully used and the judges are not ignorant of the seriousness of the issue. There have been many cases where the prosecutors pushed for the maximum penalty in the Protection of Wildlife Act but the judge or magistrate did not understand the seriousness of the crime. They don’t take it seriously. Usually, it’s a small fine and jail terms are rare. For example, the man caught in Kelantan with a frozen tiger was only jailed a day and fined RM7,000. We have been pushing for a review of the law since 1998. The government said the law was reviewed last year but I don’t know when it will be presented to Parliament and what the new provision are.

Do you think Malaysia has addressed this problem effectively?
To say that nothing has been done is not accurate. We need to also look at the challenges faced by the enforcement agencies. Governments tend to say that they do not have enough resources, budgets for manpower and equipment but if you look at the Wildlife Protection Act and Cites Act, the Customs and police can play a role in helping Perhilitan to seize smuggled wildlife items. You can see collaborations in some seizures but not enough to act as a deterrent to smugglers. The police and customs have powers to take action on the smugglers, however, we don’t see it being done effectively.That is one reason why Southeast Asia is one of the main players in this trade. The police, Customs, Cites and the judiciary should work closely with each other in combating the illegal wildlife trade.

How effective is the Protection of Wildlife Act?
The Act should be reviewed as it is outdated and has many loopholes. There are some provisions in the Act, which could not be revealed, and that alone has hampered the implementation of the law. It doesn’t serve as a deterrent to curb the problem and the lack of awareness and knowledge among law enforcers on the subject is yet another problem. The penalties are too low to act as a deterrent. Many offenders get away with a compound.

How many cases have been solved (over the last 10 years)?
Perhilitan solved a remarkable 6,587 wildlife trade cases from 2005 till January this year. Some 44 cases were taken to court. The department also seized 917 owls in Muar last November and 319 in Kuantan in January. It conducted checks on pet shops under Ops Sayang and the premises of taxidermists and leather hide sellers under Ops 49 and Ops Kulit, last year.Officers from its headquarters raided a house in Muar last November, where nine “totally protected” and four “protected” wildlife species were found in a freezer. The suspect pleaded not guilty and bail was set at RM19,000. The same suspect was apprehended in 2004 for having 182 pangolins and 1.3kg of pangolin scales. He was fined RM7,500. The estimated value of the seizures is RM86,000.Officers also raided a store in Segamat, Johor, last November where 7,093 clouded monitor lizards with an estimated weight of 35 tons were confiscated. The black market value is estimated at RM50-80 a kilo.The department’s officers seized more than RM3 million worth of live and dead exotic wildlife. The seizures followed raids at two locations in Johor. In other raids in the state, more than 13 species of protected animals were seized. Among the animals found were 7,000 clouded monitor lizards, 1,000 owls, pangolins, crested serpent eagles, pythons, mousedeer, Malayan porcupine, wild pigs and bear body parts.

Traffic has launched an online petition to push for a revision of the present law. What has the support from the public been?
The petition asks for changes to the protection of wildlife. The response is disappointing. We have only about 3,700 signatures altogether and our target is about 100,000. It’s been nearly a year and if you look at the list of people who have signed up, a lot of them are from outside Malaysia so we have a lot of foreigners signing in. One of the things about the public is that if they are not affected then it is not their problem. If a tiger is killed, how is it going to affect me and my family? It’s got nothing to do with my family so I’m not going to sign it or they don’t realise its importance. So it’s the understanding of the whole ecosystem that is lacking in Malaysia. And I think environmental education is missing from the syllabus. So you see children, even my nieces, who have pets but they don’t understand where the animals came from and their habitat. So it’s just a matter of going to the pet store, coming back with an animal and playing around with it. I remember when I was a kid I used to go around the drains in Section 14 with some of my friends after school looking for tadpoles and tilapias – we were actually monitoring some of the tadpoles to see how they were growing. It’s so different now in terms of the education before because I remember in school all those years ago, teachers made sure we went out of the class and walked around the school just to see what was around the school. If you ask any kid, “What’s the name of this plant?”, they probably won’t know. Some of the NGOs, for example Malaysian Nature Society and WWF, are doing a great job in educating the public on plants and animals and they’ve been doing it for years but you still see a lot of people not appreciating what is around them. This also reflects on our development: builders and contractors are given permits to develop just about anything. So you wonder who
needs to be educated – the children or the adults.

What are the programmes prepared by Traffic to create awareness among people especially the younger generation?We give talks in schools. We have collaborated with Perhilitan to come up with a national tiger action plan which was launched last year. We go to the villages and towns to talk about the importance of conservation and we encourage villagers to report to Perhilitan or any of these NGOs if they see snares or suspected poachers. For adults, our main focus has been enforcement agencies because we feel we need to sensitise enforcement officers.

addthis_pub = ‘ECOPAPARAZZI’;
addthis_logo_color = ‘666699′;
addthis_brand = ‘This Site’;
addthis_options = ‘favorites, email, digg, delicious, google, myspace, facebook, stumbleupon, technorati, twitter, more’;

No responses yet