patrick lee The Star 16 Sep 14;
PETALING JAYA: Poachers and development have pushed Malaysia’s tigers to the brink of extinction.
The country’s national animal is now categorised as a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List, with official estimates pegging the population of the big cats to as low as 250 to 340.
“Poaching for illegal commercial trade is the greatest and most urgent threat to tigers in Malaysia, followed by loss and fragmentation of forests,” Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (Mycat) said a joint statement.
Mycat general manager Dr Kae Kawanishi said data collected only by NGOs showed more than 2,241 poacher traps and 1,728 illegal camp sites were destroyed in local forest reserves and protected areas between 2010 and 2013.
“Intelligence has also indicated a sharp increase in the number of trespassers and poachers in forests across the region since 2012,” she told The Star.
Dr Kae said tigers and other wildlife were being hunted by both local and foreign poachers “right under our noses”.
Previously, the estimated number of Malayan tigers in the country was at 500.
In 2013, a man from Kedah was sentenced to five years jail for having eight tiger skins, 22 tiger skulls and nine elephant tusks. He was not fined.
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia senior communications officer Elizabeth John said nearly 100 live tigers and tiger parts were seized by authorities between 2000 and 2012.
“How long can any wild tiger population cope with that level of slaughter?” she asked.
WWF Malaysia chief executive Datuk Dr Dionysus Sharma said current efforts to save the Malayan tiger were not enough.
“If this trend continues, then tiger numbers can be expected to go down further,” he said.
He said TX2, a WWF move to double numbers in 13 tiger range countries by 2022 may be possible if poaching was kept under control, and enough tiger prey around to support those numbers.
Malayan tiger now critically endangered, numbering as few as 250
patrick lee The Star 15 Sep 14;
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's national animal, the Malayan tiger, is being being pushed to the point of extinction.
Current estimates have pegged Malaysia's tiger population at as little as 250 to 340 tigers in Peninsular forests, nearly half of the previous estimate of 500 tigers.
"Despite all efforts, including the strengthening of legislation and increased patrolling, tiger conservation across the vast tropical forest landscape continue to face challenges."
"Poaching for illegal commercial trade is the greatest and most urgent threat to tigers in Malaysia, followed by loss and fragmentation of forests," said a joint statement by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (Mycat).
It was added that the new estimates were made from studies conducted between 2010 to 2013 using camera traps under a standardised protocol at seven sites across three major tiger landscapes in Peninsular Malaysia.
Though it said that more sites needed to be surveyed to determine a more robust tiger population estimate here, it added that the Malayan tiger now met the IUCN Red List criteria of "Critically Endangered".
It previously classified as "Endangered" in 2008.
Previous moves to increase Malaysia's tiger population to 1,000 by 2020, such as specified in the National Tiger Conservation Action Plan, were now considered "unachievable".
Immediate tiger conservation efforts are being explored, including the setting up of tiger patrol units in the Belum-Temengor, Taman Negara and Endau-Rompin tiger priority areas.
Also included were a comprehensive national Tiger Survey in the Peninsular's remaining major forest landscape, and the strengthening of existing forest and tiger conservation mechanisms.
It was added that though federal funding and donations from Mycat's NGO donors had helped thus far, more resources were needed.
There are no Malayan tigers in Borneo.
According to the Mycat website, tiger populations a century ago measured about 100,000 worldwide, declining to about less than 3,200 today.
