Malaysia: More protected animals seized

Teh Eng Hock, The Star 16 Jul 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: Two bags containing hundreds of protected animals have been confiscated by the Customs Department at KL International Airport.

There were 369 Radiated Tortoises, five Madagascar Tortoises, 47 Tomato Frogs and several chameleons, Department Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director-general Datuk Abd Rasid Samsuddin said.

He said the animals were brought in the hand luggage of two women from Madagascar on Wednesday.

“The tortoises were bound with masking tape to prevent them from moving, while the chameleons were stuffed in socks to prevent detection,” he said, adding that the animals cost an estimated RM250,000.

In another case, Perhilitan officers seized products made from parts of endangered animals from a shop in Petaling Jaya.

Abd Rasid said they recovered five tiger claws, two beaks of rhinocerous hornbills, two sambar deer trophies, a handbag made from asiatic cobra skin, a pair of shoes made from python skin, three feathers from birds of paradise, one barking deer trophy and 96 trophies made from elephant tusks.

He said the products were estimated to cost RM75,000.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the culprits behind the trading of endangered wildlife could face up to seven years imprisonment and a maximum fine of RM100,000 per species.

Abd Rasid Samsuddin said the 700 birds recovered from a raid in Jinjang on Tuesday were estimated to cost a total of RM600,000 to RM700,000 in the black market.

These exotic species were protected under the International Trade in Endangered Species Act, he said, which provided for a fine not exceeding RM100,000 per species, a maximum of seven years jail, or both.

Hundreds of Malagasy tortoises seized in Malaysia
TRAFFIC 15 Jul 10;

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15 July 2010—Malaysian Customs Department officers on Wednesday foiled another attempt to smuggle hundreds of Critically Endangered Madagascar tortoises into Malaysia and arrested two women in whose bags, the tortoises were hidden.

The Malagasy women had filled two bags with 369 Radiated Tortoises Astrochelys radiata and five Ploughshare Tortoises Astrochelys yniphora. Apart from the tortoises, the duo had also hidden 47 Tomato Frogs Dyscophus antongilii and several chameleons in their luggage.

This is the second case in just over a month involving the smuggling of these rare tortoises into Malaysia. In early June, Customs officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, discovered 285 Radiated Tortoises, 14 Spider Tortoises Pyxis arachnoids and a Ploughshare Tortoise in two unclaimed suitcases that also contained a stash of drugs. No arrests were made in that incident.

The reptiles and amphibians seized in both cases have been handed over to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

Perhilitan Director-General Datuk Abd. Rasid Samsudin told press that the two suspects were being investigated under Section 10(A) of Malaysia’s International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008, which came into force this month.

This section of the law provides for a total fine of up to MYR 1 million or a maximum jail sentence of seven years, or both, if a person is convicted of importing or exporting any scheduled species without a permit.

These cases confirm links between criminal elements in Southeast Asia and Madagascar. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia urges enforcement agencies within the ASEAN-WEN to collaborate in shutting these syndicates down, especially in international airports, as these are truly the hubs of the trade.

Investigations to find the masterminds behind the trade in Madagascar’s tortoises in Southeast Asia should be initiated. It is these people, and those that continue to buy these illegal animals that are driving Malagasy wildlife towards extinction.

The second seizure of Madagascar tortoises comes hot on the heels of several Perhilitan successes this month.

On 11 July, Perhilitan’s Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) raided the premises of a flea market trader in the state of Selangor and seized several wildlife trophies including five Tiger claws, the casks and beaks of two Rhinoceros Hornbills, Sambar and Barking Deer antlers, bags and shoes made of python and cobra skins and 96 items made of elephant ivory.

On 13 July, the WCU and Malaysian Police raided a car workshop in Kuala Lumpur and discovered over 600 birds, many of them protected under local legislation and/or by international conventions, including three Straw-headed Bulbuls Pycnonotus zeylanicus a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw Ara ararauna, nine Sulphur-crested Cockatoos Cacatua galerita, three Palm Cockatoos Probosciger aterrimus and a pair of Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise Seleucidis melanoleucus.

Two men linked to this case are still at large, police told press on Tuesday when announcing the seizure.

Take back animals, Madagascar told
Lester Kong The Star 17 Jul 10;

PETALING JAYA: Madagascar must take back the animals that have been smuggled into Malaysia from that island, the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) said.

A last option for the department if Madagascar refused to take back the animals was to “euthanise” them, its legal and enforcement principal assistant director Loo Kean Seong said.

Loo said the department had written to the country to bear the costs of returning the animals, estimated to be between RM10,000 and RM15,000.

“We have contacted the authorities there under provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for them to take back the animals.

“We have not determined the actual cost of repatriating the animals to Madagascar. It depends on the total weight but the cost is less because there is no need to hold them in special cages,” he said here yesterday.

The animals, estimated to cost a total of RM250,000, were brought into Malaysia in hand luggages by two Madagascar women.

The wildlife, comprising 369 Radiated Tortoises, five Madagascar Tortoises, 47 Tomato Frogs and several chameleons, are being kept at Perhilitan’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur since they were seized by the Customs Department on Wednesday.

Loo said that if Madagascar refused to accept the animals, Perhilitan, as the management authority, would have to look into ways of disposing the animals.

He said releasing them into the wild in Malaysia was out of the question because they were not native to the country’s ecosystem.

“They will create problems and threaten our ecosystems. It will not be wise for conservation purposes if we introduce them into Malaysia,” said Loo.

He added that the country could not spend public money on conserving species that were not from the country and could not be introduced into the ecosystem here.

“Under the International Trade in Endangered Species Act, the management authority is allowed to sell the animals if this is deemed a suitable move and the proceeds given to the Government,” he said.