Kuala Lumpur - Conservationists have slammed plans to create a tiger park on Malaysia's resort island of Penang, warning yesterday that the project would be too expensive to maintain and could lead to illegal wildlife trade.
The Penang government recently proposed setting up a 40ha tiger park to boost tourism, a key revenue-earner for the northern state.
But the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers said the country already has 40 zoos and that maintaining them is already a challenge for the authorities.It also warned that some reserves - like the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park and Guilin Tiger Park, both in China - are essentially farms that breed thousands of tigers and have been implicated in the illegal killing and sale of their animals.
The group added that the plan also violates the federal government's commitment to protect and increase wild tiger populations.
Illegal hunting and the destruction of natural jungle habitat have reduced Malaysia's wild tiger population from 3,000 to 500 in the last half-century.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng promised yesterday his government will consider all public views before making a final decision.
APa
Malaysia tiger park plan attacked
BBC News 21 Mar 09;
Conservationists have attacked a Malaysian plan to set up a tiger park on the resort island of Penang.
Wildlife groups say the park would violate the government's pledge to double the population of wild tigers.
Penang's government recently proposed creating a 100 acre (40 hectare) tiger park to attract tourists.
Illegal hunting and destruction of the tigers' jungle habitat has reduced Malaysia's wild tiger population from 3,000 to 500 in the last 50 years.
The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers said the country already had 40 zoos and that maintaining them was posing a challenge to authorities.
In a letter to the Penang government, the alliance said that tiger reserves in China similar to the Malaysian proposal were little more than farms to breed tigers.
They have been implicated in the illegal trade in tiger parts, the alliance said.
It also pointed to the expense of maintaining tigers in captivity.
The group said the project would violate a federal government commitment to protect jungle corridors in order to double the wild tiger population to 1,000 by 2020.
Procurement issues
Conservation group WWF-Malaysia said the issue of procuring tigers for the proposed park was problematic.
"Wild tigers cannot be removed from their natural habitat as they are protected under the Protection of Wild Life Act," said Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma, WWF-Malaysia's chief executive officer.
"Tigers caught due to human-tiger conflict incidents are currently managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Departments at the Malacca Zoo while importing tigers from other countries would require a CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) permit," the Malaysian Star newspaper quoted him as saying.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has said the island needs a new eco-tourism project to attract more visitors but pledged that all public views would be considered before a final decision was made.
Although Malayan tigers have been protected by wildlife laws since the early 1970s, their numbers have been hit by demand for their meat and for body parts, which are sometimes used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Malaysia's tropical forests are home to a wide range of threatened animals, including orang-utans, Borneo sun bears, Sumatran rhinoceroses and pygmy elephants.
CM defends tiger park idea
Looi Sue-Chern, The Star 21 Mar 09;
GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has defended his proposal to start a tiger park in Relau, saying that the state needed a new eco-tourism project.
“Some people have suggested a zoo but it is not economical to have one presently. The people, especially children, are generally interested in big animals. The ‘wow’ factor is there,” he said when asked to elaborate on his idea.
Lim had announced that the state government planned to create a tiger park on a 40ha plot owned by the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) known as the Pondok Durian Cap Kaki.
He said Penang, in its pursuit to become an international city, should have such a park as most international cities had zoos.
The park could have a few other animals but it would mainly feature tigers which symbolised bravery and dynamism, he added.
“It will be a private-driven project and a tender will be called if the state government goes ahead with the plan.
“Currently the state is collecting public feedback. Those who want to contribute ideas or suggestions can write to the state government in Komtar or the MPPP,” he added.
The project, he said, would also help the state government and the MPPP tackle illegal farming activities at the proposed site.
It was reported earlier that the proposal had received negative feedback from the public and several non-governmental organisations like the Malaysian Nature Society Penang branch. They are concerned about the safety issues and felt that the state should concentrate on promoting Penang’s heritage, culture and arts.
Meanwhile, Penang National Park and Wildlife Department director Noor Alif Wira Osman said the state government and private parties involved in the project would have to iron out legal problems if the plan goes ahead.
He said it was not like setting up a bird park.
“The location for the park must be suitable. The safety around the tiger enclosures and surrounding areas is also a main priority,” he said, adding that the care for the tigers would also be subjected to close monitoring by the department.
“There are strict guidelines to follow to get the permit,” he said.