With Malaysia’s authorities, notorious ‘Lizard King’ a shocking blank (VIDEO)

Anson Wong gets physical when 101 East Presenter, Steve Chao asks him whether he continues to trade in threatened and endangered animals. — Pictures courtesy of Al Jazeera

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — His wildlife smuggling earned him the title “Lizard King” and led wildlife groups to dub him “public enemy number one”, but the name Anson Wong drew a blank with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, according to an Al Jazeera reporter on the trail of the convicted smuggler’s comeback.

Steve Chao, a presenter on the “101 East” programme with the international news channel, alleged that Wong continues to operate openly in Penang and holds wildlife trading permits, despite authorities purportedly revoking Wong’s and his family’s permits in 2010, after he was convicted of smuggling endangered snakes.

“Despite being from Penang, he’s never heard of the ‘Lizard King’, which, to us, is quite shocking,” Chao told The Malay Mail Online yesterday in a phone interview, referring to Wong with his popular moniker.

He added that the minister appeared in the dark over sanctions supposedly imposed on Wong’s trade following his conviction.

“We spoke to the natural resources minister, Palanivel. In 2010, when Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks) decided that Anson Wong should be stripped of all permits for wildlife, and companies related to wildlife, he said that the decision should be standing today. But according to the paper trail, it is not,” he added.

Far from being kept away from the trade, Chao alleged that the wildlife dealer instead kept exotic animals such rare tortoises, wild cats from North Africa, albino pythons, white and yellow snakes, deadly vipers, and chameleons in stash houses in Penang.

- See more at: themalaymailonline.com

46 pangolins rescued from car boot

ALOR STAR: Forty-six pangolins, worth RM43,000, were saved from the cooking pot yesterday. The animals, which were bound for exotic food restaurants in a neighbouring country, were found in the boot of a Toyota Camry at a traffic light in Changlun near here at 8.30am. Kedah and Penang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) officers had trailed the car for about 30km from the Hutan Kampung Toll Plaza near here.

The car driver pushed the officers away and fled the scene on foot when the Perhilitan team approached his vehicle. State Perhilitan director Rahim Ahmad said four of the pangolins were juveniles. Rahim said he believed that the pangolins were to be supplied to Thailand.

"Prior to the discovery, we conducted an investigation to locate the poacher following a tip-off from the public." Rahim said the department had lodged a report to seek the police's help in locating the suspect.

Pangolins are much sought after as exotic meat and it is believed the consignment was being smuggled to Thailand. Rahim said the pangolins would be released in the forest reserves of Pedu, Padang Terap and Ulu Muda.

Source: NST

Attempt to smuggle pangolins foiled

 

NINETY-FOUR pangolins believed to be bound for the cooking pots in the region were seized by the authorities at the cargo complex in Batu Maung, Penang. The importer had shipped the animals in boxes from Sabah and declared them as crabs.

However, checks by the Penang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis) found that 43 of the 49 boxes contained pangolins. State Perhilitan director Jamalun Nasir Ibrahim said they were still investigating where the protected species worth about RM106,000 were heading. “We believe the animals will be sold in foreign markets where the demand for exotic meat is high. “The price of the pangolin meat can go up to RM220 per kg.

“We have not arrested anyone yet. But we have information on the importer and exporter,” he said at the Perhilitan office in Jalan Gurdwara, George Town. The smuggling attempt was foiled at about 12.30pm on Thursday in an operation led by state Maqis chief Abdul Hamid Sulaiman and Perhilitan officer Tang Teong Kim at the Kuala Lumpur Airport Services’ (KLAS) cargo complex.

Jamalun said the case was being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) and if convicted, the offender would face a fine between RM50,000 and RM100,000 or a jail term up to three years. In a separate case, the department’s licensing unit led by officer Rofley Ambuka raided a petshop in Bukit Mertajam and found 103 turtles not listed in its registry.

There were 40 Southeast Asian Box Turtles (Cuora amboinensis), 41 Giant Asian Pond Turtles (Heosemys grandis) and 22 Black Marsh Turtles (siebenrockiella crassicollis) with a total market price of RM7,000.

Source: thestar.com

Cobras in Papaya

GEORGE TOWN - A shipment declared as papayas was found to contain hundreds of cobras and freshwater turtles worth some RM110,000 (S$45,000) meant for the cooking pot in Hong Kong.

The animals were rescued by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) in a joint raid with the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services at the KL Airport Services local cargo complex in Batu Maung near here.

Penang Perhilitan director Jamalun Nasir Ibrahim said the 555 cobras and 171 turtles were found inside 80 polystyrene boxes which were kept among 100 boxes of papayas in a container.

The shipment, he said, was declared as papayas bound for Hong Kong. He said the driver of the lorry transporting the container was arrested during the raid around 4.30am on Wednesday.

"We arrested the driver, who is in his 40s, to facilitate investigations to track down the mastermind," Jamalun said yesterday.

 

He believed a syndicate was behind the smuggling of the giant Asian pond turtles (Heosemys grandis) and the monocellate cobra (Naja kaouthia).

"We believe the animals were to be smuggled out to meet the demand for exotic animal dishes," he added.

Jamalun said the cobras could fetch RM200 each for the bigger ones and about RM800 each for smaller ones while the turtles cost about RM200 each.

Both species, he said, were listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which meant that trading in them was only permitted with an export permit and certificate of origin.

Based on the shipment's documentation, he said, the papayas were harvested from a farm in Kedah.

Jamalun said the case was being investigated under Section 10 of the International Trade in Endangered Species Act that carries a fine of not more than RM100,000 for each animal but not more than RM1mil in aggregate, or a maximum seven-year jail term or both.

Source: thestar.com