New Straits Times 30 May 11;
WHEN Sharun Abdul Latiff joined the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) as a ranger, little did he realise that he would be exposed to life-threatening situations.
Two years ago, the 56-year-old, who is now with the Temerloh office of the Wildlife Department, was attacked by a poacher armed with a parang. Luckily, he escaped with just a gash on his arm.
The poacher, a repeat offender who was let off the hook after paying a fine, was hunting wild boar when he was cornered by an enforcement team led by Sharun.
Sharun says poachers are the biggest threat to endangered animals in the country.
Despite constant efforts by the authorities, they have become bolder and more creative.
They have been caught packing birds in PVC tubes or carrying them in hand luggage, using the postal service to transport wildlife and mixing wildlife with products, such as fruits, to be exported.
With tighter enforcement, Sharun says the department hopes to curb poaching and smuggling.
From 2008 to last year, the department thwarted 109 attempts to smuggle protected and endangered animals, with 21 smugglers fined a total of RM17,100.
The department's cooperation with the Asean Wildlife Enforcement Network also foiled 306 smuggling attempts between 2004 and 2009.
In the past few years, the department has upped the ante in the fight against poachers and smugglers.
This includes working with agencies like the armed forces, the Anti-Smuggling Unit and the police; establishing 13 border checkpoints; and identifying hot spots in Johor, Pahang and Terengganu.
There have been instances when their efforts were undermined by the action of the so-called protecters.
Recently, five Malaysian soldiers on anti-poaching duty were suspended after they posted photographs of a dead Great Pied Hornbill bird, with its throat slashed, on Facebook.
It was reported that the group was part of a force protecting the Royal Belum-Temengor rainforest in Perak when they came across the bird, which they claimed had been shot by a hunter.
Last year, a Perhilitan officer was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for allegedly abusing his powers to issue permits.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abd Rashid Samsudin says all Malaysians have the responsibility to protect and preserve the country's biodiversity.
Orang Asli lured into trapping rich pickings
New Straits Times 30 May 11;
MIDDLEMEN are using the Orang Asli to hunt endangered animals.
As the Orang Asli are allowed to hunt certain animals for their own consumption, the middlemen pay them to trap and kill wildlife that is in demand in the market.
Pahang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Khairiah Mohd Shariff says the Orang Asli are targeting leopards and bears.
She says the syndicates rely on the Orang Asli to trap the animals as they realise that these people are familiar with the routes used by the animals as well as their resting places.
"Our investigations reveal that the Orang Asli will capture the endangered clouded monitor lizards usually found in oil palm plantations and hand them over to middlemen. The lizards are usually destined for cooking pots in exotic meat restaurants overseas.
"The demand for the wildlife has spurred the Orang Asli to hunt for the animals as they have come to realise the high value of certain animals."
Khairiah says the syndicates are using the Orang Asli to shield their activities from the authorities.
She says Perhilitan officers have, on numerous occasions, spotted Orang Asli selling the Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot (burung serindit) along the Kuantan-Segamat Highway but nowadays, the Orang Asli have become bolder and are keeping wildlife organs in their homes.
In a recent seizure, the department found chunks of leopard, bear and deer meat as well as slaughtered mousedeer in a refrigerator at an Orang Asli village headman's house.
Several days later, the department rescued 41 endangered clouded monitor lizards from a nearby Orang Asli settlement. Both seizures took place in Pahang.
