Bernama New Straits Times 18 Mar 19;
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malayan tiger is likely to become extinct in the next five to 10 years if no drastic measures are taken to protect the species.
Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the Malayan tiger population was at a worrying level, with fewer than 200 left, according to the First National Tiger Survey conducted from 2016 to 2018.
“The actual population of Malayan tigers will be known once the survey is completed in 2020,” he said in reply to Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
Fahmi had wanted to know about the Malayan tiger population in the country and steps taken to maintain and boost its numbers.
Dr Xavier said his ministry was taking proactive steps to protect the Malayan tiger through the Department of Wildlife and National Parks with the cooperation of government agencies and non-governmental organisations,
He said these included stepping up patrols and monitoring at 20 hunting hotspots.
He said they were also discussing having integrated patrols and enforcement with the armed forces and police.
“There is an agreement with several universities for their biodiversity and forestry students to volunteer to conduct patrols,” he said.- Bernama
Malayan Tiger in danger of going extinct
MARTIN CARVALHO, HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM, RAHIMY RAHIM and TARRENCE TAN The Star 19 Mar 19;
KUALA LUMPUR: The critically endangered Malayan Tiger will go extinct if no drastic action is taken to address its decline in population, says Dr Xavier Jayakumar.
“Malaysia will forever lose this species between the next five and 10 years,” said the Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister when answering a question by Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil (Pakatan-Lembah Pantai) yesterday.
Dr Xavier said there were less than 200 tigers left in the wild based on the 1st National Tiger Survey, carried out between 2016 and last year, covering 75% of 44,000sq km of the jungle.
He added that patrols in 20 illegal hunting hotspots had also been stepped up, involving 200 wildlife officers.
On Sunday, Dr Xavier said that he personally was in favour of a shoot-on-sight policy against wildlife poachers.
However, he said that the government would not consider taking this drastic approach at the moment.
