Ban helps increase wildlife population in Johor

Sunday November 7, 2010
By MOHD FARHAAN SHAH
thestar

JOHOR BARU: The royal ban on wildlife hunting in Johor has helped to steadily increase wildlife population in the state.

Johor National Parks Corporation director Abu Bakar Mohamed Salleh said the wildlife population, especially that of tigers, had seen an increase and he attributed this to the ban that was decreed by Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar in April last year.

“Previously, we recorded 11 tigers at our national park.

“Since the ban was imposed, we have sighted four more tigers, including three cubs.

“We are happy that the number of tigers in the state has increased,” he said, adding that the population of their prey had also increased.

“We have noticed that animals that used to be targets of hunters such as rusa (deer), kijang (barking deer) and kancil (mousedeer) had also increased,” he said.

Abu Bakar added that heightened surveillance of the national park had also helped the wildlife population to grow.

“We are working closely with our counterparts in (neighbouring) Pahang to ensure poachers do not hunt in our forests,” he said.

Abu Bakar, however, said poaching had not been eradicated.

“We still have hunters breaching our borders. Hopefully, with the help of the public and increased surveillance, we will be able to stop them,” he said.

Ruler bans hunting of wildlife

Friday March 5, 2010
By LOURDES CHARLES and NELSON BENJAMIN
thestar.com.my

JOHOR BARU: There will be no more hunting in the state, Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almar­hum Sultan Iskandar decreed.

He said the ban was necessary to protect the wildlife especially protected species from decreasing or going extinct. Sultan Ibrahim said that besides tigers, the ban includes bears, deer, mousedeer, tapir and porcupines.

“The poaching of these animals are so cruel. Eating one tiger claw will not make you have tiger strength for months,” he said referring to beliefs that consuming certain animal parts would help boost virility.

He stressed that if wild animals were causing a nuisance to people or farmers, they should inform the Johor Wildlife Department (Perhilitan).

“We can organise shooters for wild boars or crows,” he said, adding that a meeting would be held with Perhitilitan to enforce the ruling immediately.

“I want to protect the wildlife in Johor and those caught poaching should be jailed,” he told The Star in an exclusive interview at his Istana Pasir Pelangi here yesterday.

Sultan Ibrahim said he was breeding several animals like tigers, panthers and deers with the intention of releasing them into the jungle.

Sultan Ibrahim has 400 deer, 12 Siberian, Indian and Bengal tigers as well as panthers.

He also has six tiger cubs as a result of his breeding programme.

“I am trying to protect wildlife here including starting a rehabilitation centre for deer in central Johor,” he said, adding that he also hoped to work with the World Wildlife Foundation.

Sultan Ibrahim said he had informers who would report to him if people continued hunting.

He also wanted the procedures for the issuance of gun licences in the state to be tightened.

He warned those who misused their gun licences that he would not hesitate to get the authorities to revoke their licences and seize their guns.

“The police must assist and conduct roadblocks in places known to be famous for hunting to ensure no one flouts the law,” he added.

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Friday March 5, 2010
Private zoo implicated in smuggling of orangutan
By HILARY CHIEW and JOSHUA FOONG

PETALING JAYA: Besides keeping animals illegally, the controversial zoo in a southern state was also implicated in the smuggling of the critically endangered orangutan.

It was one of the private facilities in the country that is known to have acquired smuggled orangutan in recent years where the animals were confiscated and repatriated by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

This was confirmed by Perhilitan, thus contradicting the assertion of the zoo that the department took away a pair of its orangutan for breeding in Indonesia a year ago.

It is unclear if the zoo was penalised for the offence but it appeared that its special permit for orangutan was never revoked.

Instead, its orangutan collection was replaced; a six-year-old female was delivered in June last year followed by a 15-year-old male in December.

Perhilitan deputy director-general Misliah Mohamad Basir said the replacements were from the Bukit Merah Lake Town Resort as part of the department’s breeding loan programme, adding that it is an effort to promote eco-tourism in Johor.

In 2006, Malaysia repatriated seven Sumatran orangutan that were removed from a resort in Malacca and one from the Johor zoo following a nationwide DNA finger-printing exercise that revealed that 12 out of 58 orangutan held at seven facilities were Sumatran and the remaining 46 were Borneans.

However, in Perhilitan’s communication in 2005 with British-based NatureAlert that had taken an interest in the smuggled orangutan scandal, it was revealed that seven Borneans belonging to the Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii supspecies (found in Sarawak and western Kalimantan) would be repatriated.

No hunting of sambar and barking deer for two years

Dept: No hunting of sambar and barking deer for two years
July 22, 2009
By TAN CHENG LI
Star

PETALING JAYA: The hunting of sambar and barking deer will be stopped for two years, in a move to safeguard their numbers and ultimately, that of the Malayan tiger.

Wildlife and National Parks Department enforcement director Saharudin Anan said the two-year moratorium on hunting will start this November, when the annual one-month open season for both game species usually kicks off.

He said no hunting licences will be issued for deer this year and next, to allow the declining deer population to rebound and provide a food source for wild tigers.

Wildlife scientists have said that tiger densities depended very much on the abundance of large preys such as the sambar and barking deer, but they have been overhunted in recent years.

Sambar deer numbers have plunged drastically, prompting the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to list the species as endangered last year.

The Perhilitan 2007 annual report revealed that 221 sambar deer and 315 barking deer were captured by licensed sports hunters that year, the bulk of them in Pahang.

The department issued 574 hunting licences for both species that year, which brought in a revenue of RM81,500.

The licence costs RM200 for the sambar deer and RM100 for the barking deer, and permits the capture of one animal.

In Kuala Lumpur, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said the ministry has sought military assistance to help curb illegal wildlife trade in the country.

“The border is so long and the areas are so wide. And many people realise that our jungles are rich in resources and all kinds of flora and fauna.

“But all hope is not lost. We are working with the military to come out with more effective enforcement,” he said when launching the forum, Mainstreaming Biodiversity with a Focus on the National Tiger Action Plan yesterday.

“We have a masterplan and our commitment is to achieve that plan,” Uggah said.

He added that a task force, consisting of enforcement agencies, would also be formed to look into matters pertaining to wildlife poaching and smuggling.