FARIS FUAD New Straits Times 6 Jul 18;
KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) detained four men and two Vietnamese women after they were found keeping wildlife parts without valid documentation.
The wildlife parts found with the six suspects include skin, fangs and tiger claws.
The suspects between the ages of 20 and 40 were arrested at a factory in Kuala Lipis Pahang yesterday.
Perhilitan Director-General Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the suspects were believed to be illegal wildlife hunters, using snares as the main means of trapping and killing wild animals, especially Tigers, in the past three years.
He said the individuals could make a profit of up to RM200,000 for a piece of tiger skin in the black market.
"Among the wildlife parts which were confiscated were two tiger skins, meaning the seizure amounted to RM400,000.
"Other wildlife parts include 20 bear claws, four Serow horns, 12 wild boar canine tooth’s, 39 kilogrammes of wild life meat, amounting to RM100,000 in seizures.
"Overall, the seizure value reached RM500,000," he said in a press conference, here, today.
He said the suspects are being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) for hunting wildlife that was fully protected and the use of snares.
"They had been remanded for seven days, from July 4,” Kadir said.
Pahang Perhilitan seizes RM500,000 worth of wildlife parts
tarrence tan The Star 6 Jul 18;
KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has confiscated an estimated RM500,000 worth of protected wildlife animal parts in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the raid took place on July 4, during a special operation launched by Pahang Perhilitan at a foreign workers squatters located in a sawmill.
According to Abdul Kadir, Perhilitan seized 60 animal parts and three wire snares from the raid, following a tip-off from the public.
Among the most valuable animal parts seized were two full pieces of suspected dried Malayan Tiger skin, which are worth about RM200,000 per piece on the black market.
The suspects are now being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716), said Abdul Kadir.
Abdul Kadir believes that the arrested suspects were part of a group of illegal poachers that mainly targeted tigers.
“We also believe that the proceeds of the illegal hunt would have been sold to a middleman before being smuggled out of the country.
“The illegal poachers used wire snares to trap and kill these protected animals,” he added.
Abdul Kadir said the public can forward any relevant information to Perhilitan via its hotline 1-800-88-5151 during weekdays from 8am to 6pm, or file a complaint through e-aduan in its website www.wildlife.gov.my.
“We hope more people can support Perhilitan in its effort to protect the country’s wildlife, which is increasingly being threatened with extinction,” he added.
Perhilitan seizes animal parts worth RM500,000
The Star 7 Jul 18;
KUALA LUMPUR: The Pahang Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) seized about RM500,000 worth of protected wildlife animal parts during a raid.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the raid took place on Wednesday in a special operation at a sawmill in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
He said officers seized 60 animal parts and three wire snares following a public tip-off.
Among the most valuable animal parts seized were two full pieces of suspected dried Malayan Tiger skin, which could fetch up to RM200,000 per piece in the black market.
“During the raid, six Vietnamese nationals were arrested and remanded for investigations,” Abdul Kadir told a press conference at the Perhilitan headquarters here yesterday.
He said the suspects were being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716).
Abdul Kadir believed that the suspects were part of a group of illegal poachers who mainly targeted tigers.
He said it was believed that the items were sold to a middleman before being smuggled out of the country.
“The illegal poachers used wire snares to trap and kill these protected animals,” he said.
Abdul Kadir urged the public to provide tip-offs to Perhilitan at its hotline 1-800-88-5151 during weekdays (8am to 6pm), or via e-aduan at www.wildlife.gov.my.
Malaysia arrests poachers, seizes Malayan tiger skins
Channel NewsAsia 6 Jul 18;
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian wildlife officers arrested six Vietnamese suspected poachers and seized a large cache of animal parts, including skins of the critically endangered Malayan tiger, during a raid this week, officials said Friday (Jul 6).
Pieces of tiger skins, along with skins, claws, meat and other parts from protected bears, a leopard, serow goats and a python were recovered during the raid Wednesday on a workers' living quarters in the central state of Pahang.
Six Vietnamese nationals, including two women, believed to be poachers targeting the Malayan tiger were arrested and remanded for further investigation.
"This is the biggest raid involving tigers in Malaysia this year, worth half a million ringgit (US$124,00)," said wildlife department chief Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim.
He said the poachers had killed three tigers. Wildlife officials later told AFP that one of the tigers was a cub.
The species once roamed the jungles of Malaysia in the thousands but is now critically endangered, with fewer than 340 believed left in the wild.
It is also the country's official animal, and depicted often on national emblems and its coat of arms.
Tiger skins, prized as upscale home decorations, can be sold on the black market outside Malaysia for thousands of dollars.
People found hunting protected wildlife in Malaysia can face jail time of up to five years as well as a fine of up to RM500,000.
Wildlife trafficking watchdog Traffic Southeast Asia senior communications officer Elizabeth John said the find was "heartbreaking".
"When you have so few, every single one is a massive loss. We don't have that many (left)" she told AFP.
"They (the government) need to invest more in law enforcement if they wish to save a national symbol."
Source: AFP
Foreign 'hardcore' poachers on the prowl
T. N. ALAGESH New Straits Times 12 Jul 18;
KUANTAN: The group of foreign poachers who were detained in Kuala Lipis on July 4 were described as ‘hardcore’ poachers targeting all types of wildlife, gaining lucrative returns in the black market.
Wildlife parts including tiger, clouded leopard and python skins; bear teeth and claws; kambing gurun (serow’s) tail and wild boar tooth; were seized from the wooden premises where the Vietnamese poachers, which included two women were nabbed.
A Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) source said the group, which had been
actively involved in illegal hunting activities for several years, utilised a premises located near a sawmill to kill and harvest the animals before selling them to the middlemen.
He said the premises was equipped with a refrigerator that allowed the syndicate members to store the animal meat and other parts before they were being collected.
“The group had no specific targets (animals). They take anything found trapped in their wire snares. They seemed to be well-verse about their inhumane job and kept returning to the jungle for hunting.
“They have been in the business for quite some time as they could speak in Malay and they would supply all the wildlife animal parts to the middlemen who seems to be well-connected to the illegal wildlife trade overseas,” he said.
He added checks on the two full-piece of suspected dried Malayan Tiger skin revealed that one of them belonged to an adult while the other was a young tiger.
The source said the group might have been targeting mainly tigers in the area, but caught the other animals that ended up in the wire snares.
He said while only the tiger skin was recovered, it remained a mystery what had happened to the other parts of the animal, whether it had been sold for medical purposes.
“The enforcement team only found the serow’s tail; what happened to the other parts....the wild boar meat is likely to have been sold as exotic dish as only the tooth was found.
“The number of animals killed by the syndicate is unknown but it could be shockingly high especially looking at how they operate,” he said.
On July 4, Perhilitan in a special operation seized an estimated RM500,000 worth of protected wildlife animal parts in Kuala Lipis.
The foreigners are being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) for hunting endangered animals and possession of traps.
