WWF 13 Jan 09;
Kuala Lumpur – Thai highway police unexpectedly underlined the seriousness of the tiger trafficking problem in Southeast Asia when they seized the contents of a truck containing four freshly slaughtered tigers, believed to be on their way from Malaysia to China last week.
At the same time as the seizure, and only four hours’ drive north, police from China, the US and Southeast Asian states concluded a meeting in Bangkok on how better to coordinate anti-wildlife trafficking efforts, with tigers a leading item on the agenda.
The result of the meeting was the beginning of a strategy on how to dismantle the organized crime syndicates that are believed to be behind the illegal killing and trade of endangered species such as tigers.
The seizure was particularly shocking for Malaysian wildlife authorities, who just last month launched an ambitious new National Tiger Action Plan which seeks to double the number of wild tigers in Malaysia by 2020.
Poaching is the biggest threat to tigers in Malaysia and the population of tigers there has gone from 3,000 to 500 in the last 50 years. Tigers are poached for their parts, which are used in traditional medicine and eaten as an exotic dish in countries such as China.
“Illegal trade is the most urgent and immediate threat to wild tigers, having the greatest potential to do maximum harm in the shortest span of time,” said Azrina Abdullah, Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, based in Malaysia.
“With a thriving international market for tiger products, there appears to be a large and very well-connected organized network of hunters and traders that target tigers in the region.”
Two men were reportedly arrested in connection with smuggling the dead tigers but according to Dr Loh Chi Leong, Malaysian Nature Society’s Executive Director: “Wildlife crime is not considered a priority within Malaysia’s judicial system and penalties for such crimes are often extremely low and therefore do not serve as a deterrent. Time and again wildlife offenders often escape arrest, prosecution and punishment.”
Conservationists in Malaysia hope that Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 will be updated as it is severely outdated and riddled with loopholes, often enabling wildlife offenders to escape arrest, prosecution and punishment.
The National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia outlines actions that are specifically focused on the importance of improved intelligence-driven anti-poaching patrols in key tiger habitat and better enforcement of wildlife and wildlife trade laws.
WWF and its partners including the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society (Malaysia Programme) are helping to implement the plan by working on securing key forest areas that are connected so tigers can migrate safely from place to place and providing anti-poaching protection for tigers and their prey.
“This was a bad start to the year for Malaysia’s tigers,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “There is no time to waste – we must all work together to ensure enhanced enforcement in Malaysia and beyond, and efforts to stop illegal trade into China, so that one of Earth’s most iconic species will thrive and indeed recover in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.”
