Two in Thailand held for smuggling carcasses from Malaysia

BANGKOK: Thai police have arrested two men in connection with the smuggling of tiger and leopard carcasses from Malaysia. They picked up the men – a Thai and a Vietnamese – in Kannayao yesterday and seized the carcasses of two tigers and two leopards. Central Investigation Bureau deputy chief Maj-Gen Sriwara Rangpramnakun said initial investigations revealed that the carcasses were destined for China, enroute Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. He said the carcasses were smuggled into Thailand from Malaysia through Sadao in Songkhla.

Photo: FREELAND Foundation / AP

According to the police, the men claimed that the dead tigers could fetch up to 700,000 baht (RM70,000) each. Perhilitan, the Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department, said it had come across quite a number of cases of Malaysian-registered luxury cars being modified to hide illicit cargo of endangered animals. Another tactic was to hide illegal wildlife by mixing them with products such as fish and vegetables while some traffickers try to pass off the animals as airline cargo.

Under the Wildlife Conservation Act, which went into effect recently, those caught smuggling endangered wildlife could face a fine of up to RM500,000 and mandatory jail time. 

Source: Bernama

Tigers in serious trouble around the world.

© Wild Aid Thailand

 

It is estimated that tiger populations have declined by 97% over the past hundred years. Loss of habitat and poaching of both tigers and their prey have brought this iconic species to the brink of extinction.

Today the remaining 3,200 tigers are scattered in around 70 pockets of forests across 14 countries - some of these populations are too small to survive in the long run.

In Malaysia and the other countries where tigers occur, habitat loss, forest fragmentation, poaching, illegal trade of tiger parts and derivatives, depletion of prey species and the conflict with people are the main threats to tigers.

Indirect threats include retaliatory killing or removal by the authorities after conflict, killings from snares set for other wildlife, poor livestock and plantation management and a lack of public awareness and support.

Poaching for consumption is an increasing threat in Malaysia and elsewhere. Almost every body part of the tiger is thought by some to have curative or ‘magical’ powers. Its meat is served as a delicacy in exotic meat restaurants and other body parts such as the teeth, claws and skin are also sought after. Monitoring the number of tigers which are killed each year is very difficult.

8 tiger skins, 9 tusks seized in raid

The tiger skins that were seized by Kedah Wildlife and National Parks Department officers at a house in Kota Sarang Semut, Kota Star, early yesterday. Pic courtesy of Wildlife and National Parks Department

The department said they managed to confiscate eight tiger skins, nine elephant tusks, 22 plastic bags containing what is believed to be animal bones and a horn, suspected to be from a deer. The raid was conducted at two  locations in Mukim Tokai, Pendang, and in Kota Sarang Semut, Kota Star, at 3.15am yesterday.

The items were found in a house in Kota Setar and a 29-year-old man was detained for investigations. In an immediate reaction, wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic Southeast Asia congratulated the department for its vigilance in making the seizure.

Its senior programme officer, Kanitha Krishnasamy, said the organisation viewed it as "a very serious crime" to hunt endangered animals for trade. "It is shocking to learn he has in his possession all these parts from totally-protected animals. Further investigation to determine where these items were obtained  and who else was involved is crucial."

Kavitha called for those involved in such activities to be penalised to the full extent of the law.  "Let us not repeat the mistake we made in 2007 when a man, who chopped a tiger into four parts, was fined only RM7,000 which he paid  instantly and walked out of the court smiling. We have to get tough with these criminals."

Kavitha said it was also important to determine the source of the tiger skins and elephant tusks. "DNA testing must be conducted for all items -- skins, bones, ivory and horns -- to determine the origins of these animals.

"Malaysia has seized more than six tonnes of ivory in the last seven months. "Although most were transshipments, the last seizure listed Malaysia as the end destination. "The arrest of this individual indicates that there are parties involved in ivory trade in Malaysia.

 "The arrest  is an excellent opportunity for the authorities  to crack down on the illegal trade chain and nab those involved," she said in a statement.

Source: nst.com.my

Interpol Launches Campaign to Protect Threatened Tiger

International police organization Interpol said it was imperative that the 13 nations where tigers can still be found, including Indonesia, work together to combat wildlife crime. (EPA Photo)

Hanoi. Interpol on Wednesday launched a new campaign to coordinate the global fight against tiger poaching, warning that failure to protect the endangered cats would have economic and social repercussions.

The international police organization said it was imperative that the 13 nations where tigers can still be found, including Indonesia, work together to combat wildlife crime.

David Higgins, manager of Interpol’s environment crime program, said the extinction of the tiger would impact not only biodiversity but the “economic stability and security stability” of countries where they are now found.

“The communities, the nations will lose confidence in their governments, and their good governance and their rule of law to be able to protect an iconic species such as the tiger from criminality,” he said in Vietnam.

Interpol’s new Project Predator is designed to help coordinate efforts of police, customs and wildlife officials in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“Illegal trade and trafficking in tiger parts and products is rampant across international borders, making enforcement of laws against it a challenge,” Interpol said in a statement released at its annual general meeting in Hanoi.

Project Predator, which has US, British and World Bank funding, will also share information with conservation agencies in an effort to raise awareness.

Higgins said law enforcement was “not the only answer” and greater education and poverty reduction were also needed.

Tiger numbers have been devastated by poaching and loss of habitat in the last century, falling from an estimated 100,000 in 1900 to fewer than 3,500 now, Interpol said.

The big cats, which are hunted for their fur, bones and other parts, are expected to be extinct by 2022 if left unprotected, according to wildlife group WWF.

Deputy head of Vietnam’s department of environmental crimes, Major General Vu Hong Vuong, told reporters that the country had more than 110 tigers — although 80 of these were kept in captivity.

“We have detected several cases of tiger trafficking from Thailand, through Laos, Myanmar to Vietnam and then to China. We need the cooperation from police of other countries in the protection of wild animals, especially tigers,” he said.

Resource article: Agence France-Presse