Malaysia: Sabah govt to discuss sustainable tourism with Lower Kinabatangan authorities

stephanie lee The Star 3 Jun 19;

KOTA KINABALU: The state government will be meeting with local authorities from the Lower Kinabatangan area to discuss sustainable tourism practices in a bid to protect wildlife and promote green tourism.

Sabah Tourism, Culture, and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said she was told that many lodge and tour operators in the area were not keen to be attached with any associations that could restrict their operations.

She explained that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Kinabatangan-Corridor of Life Tourism Operator Association (KiTA) and the state government through the Sabah Wildlife Department to promote sustainable tourism in 2015.

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Malaysia to set up first tapir conservation centre in Jelebu

Bernama New Straits Times 3 Jun 19;

SEREMBAN: Malaysia’s first tapir conservation centre will be built in the Kenaboi Forest Reserve/State Park, Jelebu in Negri Sembilan, according to Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) Department's state director, Wan Mat Wan Harun.

“The rationale behind it is Perhilitan hasn’t got a dedicated conservation centre for a comprehensive tapir treatment, rehabilitation and breeding programme yet despite the number of animals being rescued rising every year.

“The state park is ideal for the project. The centre will encourage research and development into the species by local and international researchers,” he told Bernama.

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Indonesia: Endangered Javan leopard evacuated from West Java village

Arya Dipa The Jakarta Post 3 Jun 19;

West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) evacuated a black Javan leopard, or panther, from Cimalingping in Kasomalang district in Subang on Saturday after it became trapped inside a house.

Before the authorities came to the site, locals armed with sticks and machetes had tried to catch the critically endangered animal by themselves but to no avail.

The footage of the capture attempt had gone viral on the internet over the weekend.

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Thailand: Tour operators want better marine protection system

Clearer communication from authorities on closures would also help
DUSIDA WORRACHADDEJCHAI Bangkokg Post 4 Jun 19;

The temporary closure for rehabilitation of several famous marine national parks and coastal sites, including Maya Bay and the Similan and Surin islands in southern Thailand, and more recently Samae San island on the east coast, has drawn mixed reactions from stakeholders.

While many praised the ecological recovery plans, local tourism operators have complained that unclear information over the closing plans and the reopening dates put them at a disadvantage.

Phuriwat Limthavornrat, president of the Association of Domestic Travel, said that even though many operators agree with closing marine national parks, they would like authorities to notify them of the duration of the closure and how the places will be restored during the period.

Discussions with representatives from the private sector and the Federation of Thai Industries suggest that whenever the authority wants to shut down national parks it should mitigate the impact on tour operators, Mr Phuriwat said.

The government should inform related tourism organisations in advance, instead of making abrupt announcements.

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Best of our wild blogs: 3 Jun 19

Butterfly of the Month - June 2019
Butterflies of Singapore

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379 dengue cases recorded last week, highest since March 2016: NEA

Channel NewsAsia 1 Jun 19;

SINGAPORE: There were 379 dengue cases recorded last week, which is the highest weekly number since March 2016, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in an advisory on Saturday (Jun 1).

"The number of weekly reported dengue cases have been on an upward trend, and have more than tripled in the past nine weeks. We have not seen such a high weekly number since March 2016," NEA said.

The agency also added that the peak dengue season has set in.

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Malaysia: Beefing up prey for the predators

sim leoi leoi The Star 3 Jun 19;

PETALING JAYA: There are plans to ban hunting in more areas and cut down on open season for wild boar in a move to conserve wildlife, such as tigers.

The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has put forward these proposals as part of amendments to the Wildlife Conser­vation (Hunting Prohibited Areas) Order 2013 and Wildlife Conser­vation (Open Season, Methods and Times of Hunting) Order 2014.

“Perhilitan under the Water, Land and Natural Resources Min­istry is conducting a survey on the amendment process for the Wildlife Conservancy Act (Act 716) and wildlife conservation order under the supervision of the MPC (Malaysia Productivity Corporation),” said the department.

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Malaysia: Perhilitan nabs 11 poachers in four raids throughout May

m. kumar The Star 1 Jun 19;

PETALING JAYA: Eleven poachers were nabbed last month in an effort by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) to combat poaching.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the arrests were made during four separate raids in Terengganu, Pahang and Kelantan, throughout May this year.

"Two locals were arrested on May 13 in Rompin, Pahang; six Myanmar nationals were nabbed in two raids on May 23 and May 27 at Gua Musang, Kelantan, and Sungai Yu, Pahang; and finally three Cambodians were detained on May 29 at a Terengganu national park," he said in a statement on his Instagram account on Saturday.

He said that the raids, codenamed Ops Belang, were conducted with the help of police and the General Operations Force (PGA).

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Malaysia and Indonesia will work together to save the Sumatran rhino

The Star 1 Jun 19;

SHAH ALAM (Bernama): The governments of Malaysia and Indonesia will both work together to ensure the success of the Sumatran rhino breeding programme in order to save the species in Sabah.

Deputy Water, Land and Natural Resources minister Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji said the collaboration is expected to be carried out by the end of this year to save the rhinoceros species from extinction.

"The Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia today is no longer able to produce new offspring, so the government will try to save the species from extinction.

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Malaysia: Nature lovers pay for sick turtle’s taxi fare from Kudat to Kota Kinabalu

muguntan vanar The Star 1 Jun 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A group of nature lovers in Kudat pooled money and paid for a taxi driver to bring an ill turtle to the Gaya Island Turtle Rescue Centre near here Saturday (June 1).

The turtle was brought to the centre at 3pm on Saturday after it was found to be unable to dive into the sea as it was suffering from "floaters syndrome", which also affects the turtle's appetite.

There is also a possibility that the turtle swallowed plastic.

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Malaysia: Injured pygmy elephant nursed back to health

The Star 3 Jun 19;

KOTA KINABALU: An injured juvenile male pygmy elephant, which villagers thought was dead, is being nursed back to health.

The elephant was found by Perdana Estate workers in Sabah’s central Telupid district on May 22, after which they alerted wildlife rangers.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said rangers went to the site and were surprised to find that the elephant was still alive.

“It turned out that the elephant had a wound on its back that was infested with maggots.

“Our rangers and vets immediately treated the wound as the elephant could not even stand,” he said when contacted.

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Malaysia: Perhilitan rescues female elephant stuck in mud pool

hanis zainal The Star 29 May 19;

PETALING JAYA: A short clip of Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) personnel freeing a female elephant stuck in a pool of mud has gone viral.

The 1-minute, 29-second clip, posted by Perhilitan on its Facebook page, was viewed more than 23,000 times in just six hours of it being posted.

The video shows a time lapse of the rescue operation, where an excavator is used to remove some mud around the animal and to dig a ramp out to solid ground.

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