The New Straits Times 26 Oct 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: Mup, the 3-month-old tiger cub that was rescued from the illegal wildlife trade last week, may have been caught from the wild in Malaysia.
However, authorities have been unable to pinpoint its exact location.
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is trying to locate where the cub was caught in order to find its mother and possibly other cubs, too.
Tigresses usually give birth to a litter of two to three cubs. For the first six to eight weeks, the cubs survive solely on their mother's milk.
By 16 months, tiger cubs would have become fully developed canines, but they only begin to kill on their own around 18 months.
It is understood that Mup would have been forcefully taken from its mother as juveniles only leave their parents when they are between 11/2 years and 3 years old.
Mup was rescued on Oct 15 when Perhilitan officials raided a couple's premises in Simpang Chini-Tun Razak Highway in Pekan following a public tip-off. The couple had wanted to sell the cub for RM30,000.
The cub was sent to Malacca Zoo and is now adapting well.
A Perhilitan source said it is believed that the couple, who were arrested but released on RM5,000 police bail on the day of the raid, have been involved in illegal wildlife trade for some time.
They are expected to be charged early next month, and face a maximum fine of RM6,000 or up to six years in jail if convicted under the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972.
In a joint statement yesterday, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and the Worldwide Fund for Nature Malaysia highlighted the importance of the public's involvement in the fight against wildlife crime.
"All too often, trafficked tigers are seized only after they have been killed and butchered into nothing more than chunks of meat, bone and fur.
"Timely information from members of the public will make a world of difference and help enforcement agencies ensure that these endangered animals stay alive, as it did in this instance. Without public information, who knows what might have become of this cub?"
The conservationists hoped that enforcement of the new Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 at the end of the year would be a greater deterrent on the ground.
"Without such deterrent sentencing, poaching will continue and Malaysia will lose its remaining tigers to brazen thievery. Certainly this is not a fate this country wishes for its most potent national symbol."
Couple caught trying to sell tiger cub
Jason Gerald John, Evangeline Majawat and Noor Hazwan Hariz Mohd
The New Straits Times 25 Oct 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: A couple in Pekan were arrested recently for trying to sell a tiger cub for RM30,000.
Pahang Wildlife and National Parks Department officers raided their premises in Simpang Chini-Tun Razak Highway on Oct 15 following a tip-off.
They found a 3-month-old male tiger cub in the couple's possession. The couple own a restaurant.
Tigers -- along with elephants, rhinoceros, orang utans and sun bears -- are protected species in Malaysia.
It is illegal to trade, breed, kill or keep these animals or any of their parts. Only those holding a special permit issued by the department under strict conditions can keep these animals.
The department released the couple on the same day they were arrested on a RM5,000 police bail. The authorities may charge them early next month.
The department confiscated the cub, nicknamed Mup, and sent it to Malacca Zoo.
Malacca Zoo director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said it received the cub from Perhilitan on Oct 15 at 11.30pm.
"Mup was weak when it arrived at our zoo from Pahang . It weighed just above 2kg.
"We put it under intensive care and 24-hour observation.
"We gave it special milk and supplementary food every two to three hours."
The cub, which now weighs 3.5kg, is under observation at the zoo's veterinary clinic.
It drinks about 226g of milk every meal, eight times a day.
Ahmad Azhar said two veterinary staff take care of the cub, which can move about in a small confined jungle area near the clinic.
"It has shown tremendous improvement since Oct 15 and can walk by itself in the space provided.
"We release Mup into the small space every day to roam as it needs sunlight. We also want it to learn about its natural habitat from young."
He said the zoo would continue to give the cub milk and special food until it was strong enough to eat solid food.
"The zoo will take care of it until it can survive on its own. The authorities will then decide whether to keep it here or elsewhere."
The New Straits Times visited the clinic yesterday and saw the cub playing with its caretakers. It then roared as a signal that it wanted milk.
Mup drank the whole bottle of milk in just a few minutes before laying down lazily. It was taken into its cage at the clinic where it fell asleep minutes later.
There are fewer than 5,000 wild tigers in the world and only about 500 are left in Malaysia, a sharp decline from an estimated 3,000 in the 1950s.
The department is investigating where the cub was taken from and where it was headed for.
A few months ago, Customs officers at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport discovered a heavily-sedated cub in a check-in bag of a Thai woman. An X-ray revealed the animal's beating heart and other organs inside the woman's oversized luggage. She was on her way to Iran.
