Malaysia: Native market in Sarikei found selling protected wildlife

stephen then The Star 26 May 19;

MIRI: The native market in Sarikei town in central Sarawak has been found to be a venue for selling live tarsier and slaughtered pangolin.

Sarawak Society for Prevention of Animal (SSPCA) president Datin Dona Wee said they received an alert from the public on this.

"A trader inside the Sarikei Tamu building was found selling live tarsier inside a small cage.

"Inside a plastic bag nearby was the meat of a pangolin.

Tarsier is a protected primate species.

An alert passer-by managed to take photos of the native woman trader and the wildlife that were being sold at her stall.

The Star forwarded the case to Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) chief executive officer Zulkifli Mohamad Aton.

He has directed his ground enforcement teams in central Sarawak to investigate the case.

Sarikei is located about 400km south of Miri.

The SFC is working hard to curb the wildlife trade that is still widespread in Sarawak.

Native markets and some pet shops in the urban centres are selling these endangered animals that were trapped from the forests and from logging zones and plantations.

Sarawak Forestry seizes slaughtered wildlife, hundreds of turtle eggs
stephen then The Star 27 May 19;

MIRI: The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) has seized hundreds of turtle eggs, slaughtered wildlife and a captured slow loris in a series of raids, says its chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton.

He said the protected slow loris was seized from a trader in Bintulu while the turtle eggs were seized in Serikin and the slaughtered bats and squirrels were confiscated in Sri Aman.

"An Indonesian trader was arrested for selling the turtle eggs in Serikin and was subsequently convicted and jailed for one month. We are intensifying our enforcement," he said on Monday (May 27).

However, the SFC team in Sarikei is still unable to locate the trader who was spotted by the public selling protected wildlife.

The Sarawak Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals (SSPCA) said that the public had informed that live slow loris and slaughtered pangolin were being sold at the Sarikei market.

"A trader at the Sarikei Tamu building was found selling a live mammal inside a small cage, while the meat of a pangolin was found in a plastic bag nearby," said its president Datin Dona Wee.

She added that an alert passer-by took photos of the trader and the wildlife that was being sold.

On the trader, Zolkipli said that SFC ground enforcement teams in central Sarawak are investigating the case.

"That trader has escaped but we are still trying to find her," he said.