Lester Kong, The Star 23 Feb 10;
PETALING JAYA: Conservation groups are shocked over a video clip showing poachers proudly posing for the camera with a tiger which they had allegedly killed.
The clip, which was captured using a mobile phone, was highlighted in a report by Britain’s Channel 4 News and posted on its website on Saturday.
It stated that the footage was recorded in northern Malaysia around the end of last year.
The clip showed several people standing around a tiger carcass and discussing how they had killed the animal.
Malaysian Nature Society president Tan Sri Salleh Mohd Nor said the killing was disrespectful to the Year of the Tiger, especially with the low tiger population in Malaysia.
“They should be hung for that. The law needs to be urgently tightened with tougher punishment for poachers,” he told The Star yesterday.
He also urged the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) to bolster its manpower and support services to prevent more poaching.
“The Government needs to stop thinking in terms of economics. Conservation of tigers and other endangered wildlife is about our natural heritage,” Salleh said.
Public environment stewards who act as whistle-blowers against environmental and wildlife threats must also be appointed, he added.
