Easy solutions to wildlife crimes

It is a vicious cycle to this issue of wildlife crimes. But here are easy solutions:-

1. If smuggle wildlife - Punishable by death to the smuggler.

2. If corrupt wildlife official releases smuggler - Punishable by death to the wildlife officer

3. If corrupt judge releasing corrupt wildlife officer - Punishable by death to the judge

After several rounds of punishable by death - I am sure wildlife crimes will disappear altogether.

Our wildlife will extinct one day if we don't do anything (read article below)....And to do the above, we need to start by CHANGING THE CORRUPT & PEROMPAK GOVERNMENT! The rot starts from the head!

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June 22, 2010 16:36 PM
Corruption Main Challenge In Overcoming Wildlife Crimes

KOTA KINABALU, June 22 (Bernama) -- Poaching and smuggling of exotic wildlife here continues unabated as these wildlife crimes are aided by a 'third force'.

That 'force', which goes by the unsavoury name of corruption, is considered the main challenge in combating such crimes.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said, although the situation was not alarming in the state, there have been instances where, out of the blues, Borneo wildlife was recorded or photographed in other parts of the world, suggesting foul play at work.

"Suddenly, we see pictures on 'Youtube' or somewhere online, of some Borneo animals sitting comfortably in other parts of the world, for example wild cats.

"As far as we are concerned, it is impossible that wild cats are smuggled out (of the state) without our knowledge...it means some people have been opening doors for these people (smugglers).

"I can only say it must have cost the fellow for that door to be opened, because you don't open doors for no reason and I can only see corruption as the main reason," he told reporters after opening the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Wildlife Trade Regulation and Species Identification Course on Tuesday.

Therefore, Masidi reasoned, no matter how strict the imposition of regulations, if corruption was still part of the culture here, it would be difficult to overcome the smuggling of exotic animals.

To address wildlife crimes, Masidi said the government had come up with three steps. They are:

* ensure no poaching or illegal hunting was carried out;

* step up enforcement skills to detect new means of smuggling; and,

* keep tabs on the use of courier services to transport animals.

He said the three-day course would see the three countries involved in HoB, namely Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia, exchanging notes and finding ways to share new strategies to combat wildlife smuggling.

"HoB is a cross-boundary area encompassing more than one quarter of whole area of Borneo, which we believe, houses some of the most exotic animals in Borneo," he added.

-- BERNAMA

Pangolins Again

Pangolins are on the news again.
Since blogging here, there were countless smuggling of wildlife in Malaysia. Search "Pangolin" in this blog and you should be able to read some of on pangolins.
Pangolin is still a common news. Why is it happening again? If there is no informer, there usually won't be any news. Poor laws, corrupt officers and sheer "buat tak tahu" are the reasons why these news will be cropping up again and again. Don't be surprised if the pangolins were found, they could be released in an island with little termites or perhaps even released in an isolated fragmented area. They don't even bother to understand how pangolins survive. Or perhaps they are sold off again for the cooking pots. It was reported to be RM130 then. Then again at RM150. Today it is RM250. I am sure many more smugglings are going to happen with the increase in price. Who cares except people like you and me! But we are the minorities.

Don't you think it is time to change the government?

Some selected pangolins news below....
Cops Seize Pangolins

Pangolin Smuggling on the rise
Man fined RM4000
98 Pangolins Seized


Saturday February 20, 2010
Star
35 pangolins rescued by cops

MALACCA: A week-long surveillance by authorities off the coastal waters of Ujong Pasir for possible illegal wildlife trade paid off when marine police rescued 35 pangolins destined for cooking pots.

The live anteaters, estimated to be worth about RM30,000, were believed to have been caught by poachers in Sumatra and were about to be smuggled into the country for sale to restaurants in Malacca and the Klang Valley.

State Marine Police commanding officer ASP Rizal Ramli said they received a tip-off last week of possible smuggling activities being conducted at the Parit Cina jetty in Ujong Pasir.

“We spotted a blue sampan with two men making their way up Parit Cina at about noon on Friday,” he told reporters when met at the Marine Police jetty in Banda Hilir yesterday.

“However both of them jumped off the boat and swam to shore before escaping on foot into a housing area nearby.”

He said the men are believed to be locals as their boat bore the registration number of boats belonging to fishermen from Malacca.

He added that those behind the illegal trade had tried to dupe authorities by carrying out their activities during Friday prayers to avoid detection.

He said that a kilo of pangolin meat could fetch up to RM250 on the black market.

He said the pangolins would be handed over to wildlife authorities here and the marine police are assisting in investigations.

MNS Says: Who's Protecting our Wildlife?

Malaysia may not be the world's largest wildlife smuggling centre but if nothing is done now, it probably won't be long before it can lay claim to that title. This seems to be the grim reality on the status of wildlife, protected or otherwise, in our country, which is one of the 12th mega diverse countries in the world.

RM2.1mil is the value of the seizures from illegal wildlife trade in Malaysia from at least 12 major enforcement actions conducted between July and December 2008. This surely is just the tip of the iceberg. This figure is astounding if you compare this with the budget for enforcement units at our national parks. Clearly, business is good – but who benefits? Certainly not our wildlife.

Denying these problems exist does nothing to solve the problem, which is about wildlife being increasingly threatened. While we hear news reports of seizures, does that mean we are getting better in wildlife enforcement, or is wildlife trade simply becoming more rampant? While issues of illegal wildlife trade, smuggling and government transparency are currently being debated, one would be more inclined to believe the latter.

In 1993, MNS led the first Belum Scientific and Heritage Expedition to study and promote its astonishing natural wealth, to conserve it as a national or state park in direct conflict with short-term logging plans. Fourteen years later in 2007, the Royal Belum State Park was unveiled to the world. With the exception of Temengor, which is still being pursued by MNS for protection, this park on the northern tip of peninsular Malaysia was a major environmental victory for all Malaysians. So it was thought.

A "protected" area, no matter what the label says at its entrance or tourism brochures, does not mean that its precious occupants are safe from harm. Temengor remains unprotected. What's more, Royal Belum, situated at the border of Thailand and Malaysia, is known as one of the entry points for illegal hunters and poachers. Most offenders at our borders to Thailand are non-Malaysian offenders. What are we doing to address this problem?

While illegal trade thrives, the question is, where do these traders acquire wildlife supplies? Where else do these poachers and dealers get their products but at the very place that you and I have toiled and gazetted as safe and stored away for our next generations – our forest reserves, state and national parks.

Who takes responsibility for all of this? The Department of Wildlife and National Parks for its less than enthused response to media reports? The seemingly lacklustre regime of monitoring and patrolling at our protected areas? The authorities issuing guns and hunting licences? The Forestry Department for being silent on the issues of wildlife trade? Or wildlife traders, especially those who are only punished by international laws abroad? Hunters? Zoos that get wildlife through illegal means? Feel-good Disney movies that promote the capture and exhibit of wild stocks of marine fish and other marine resources? The demand generated by people wanting to feast or own an exotic pet for status in the community? The list is nowhere exhaustive but the implications and motivation is a difficult pill to swallow.

As Malaysians, we need to wake up and take ownership – now!

Illegal wildlife trade is about a carefully constructed network of illegal operators, and how we choose to deal with this is crucial. MNS offers our network of members and branches to assist in this regard. Dismissing it as unimportant, or worse, untrue, does a great injustice to wildlife.

We are gratified that the Minister of Natural Resources & Environment has committed to make full investigation into this serious matter and we look forward to perpetrators being brought to justice swiftly.

TAN SRI DR SALLEH MOHD NOR
President
Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)

Wildlife smuggled under garlic

April 26, 2009
The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: A wildlife official says Malaysian authorities have rescued more than 800 turtles and 160 protected snakes from being smuggled on a truck under a load of garlic to mask their smell.

Masnim Abdullah, from the wildlife department in northern Perlis state, says customs officers near the Thai border on Saturday confiscated 160 king cobras and 814 turtles, including protected Malayan box turtles.

Wildlife - many times destined for restaurants abroad - is often smuggled out of Malaysia.

Masnim says the reptiles were hidden in bags under 2.3 tons of garlic. They have been released back into the jungle.

He says the Thai driver has been taken into custody and could face charges that carry a maximum three-year prison term.-AP

Home

Malaysia now a global hub for wildlife smuggling!

Jan 13, 2009
Star
By YENG AI CHUN

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is ranked among the top 10 illegal wildlife smuggling hubs in the world, specialising in transporting pangolins, birds and clouded monitor lizards.

The wildlife is smuggled out of the country via air through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang International Airport, and via sea through Johor, said South-East Asia regional director of wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, Azrina Abdullah.

She said Malaysia is a transit and harvest hub for the illegal wildlife trade.

“We are among the top 10 smuggling hubs together with Manila (the Philippines), Medan (Indonesia), Singapore and the United States.

"Hanoi (Vietnam) is also catching up,” she said after attending a lecture by Bryan Christy, the author of The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passion of the World’s Greatest Reptile Smugglers at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia on Tuesday.

During the talk, Christy touched on a chapter in his book which chronicles the dealings of a Penangite who was regarded as the “top reptile smuggler in the world.” Azrina said smuggled wildlife would end up in cooking pots in China, and pet shops in Europe and the United States.

“It is especially easy to smuggle reptiles because they are small and cold-blooded,” she said.

She explained that one could smuggle a snake by “balling it up” and tying it for long flights as it can withstand cold temperatures and survive on minimal food.

“Smugglers are also known to export dangerous wildlife species with valid papers as a front. The illegal wildlife would be placed below the legal wildlife.

“Few Customs officers would make the effort to unload the dangerous species to check what is at the bottom,” she said.

She added that some smugglers even dispensed tips to buyers on how to smuggle their new “pets” home on a long haul flight.

Azrina said Malaysia is the preferred hub because of its strategic location and low risk.

“We are right in South-East Asia and in the centre of things. The risk is also very low. If you get caught smuggling drugs, you would be hanged. But if you are caught smuggling a tiger, you are fined,” she said.

She said non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are lobbying for stricter laws under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (PWA).

“The Act is outdated and there is a need for heavier penalties. We are trying to push for a minimum penalty instead of the original maximum penalty. We are also trying to increase the penalty to include a jail term as well,” she said.

Wildlife Smuggling Again

Two reports on wildlife smuggling in the news today. Something is still very wrong. So many questions.

Answer the questions below: -

1) Where do you think the custodians were? What happened to the authorities along the border?

(a) Sleeping (b) Corrupted (c) Accomplice (d) All above (e) No idea

2) "We try our best to curb this, but it's not an easy job.'' If it's not an easy job, you should.....

(a) Resign (b) Talk about it (c) Employ competent person (d) No idea

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The Star
Jan 7, 2009
Thai police seize four tiger carcasses

PETALING JAYA: Thai Police have seized four tiger carcasses said to have been smuggled in from Malaysia, in the resort town of Hua Hin.

Bangkok Post reported on Tuesday that the Police have arrested two Thai men in connection with the smuggling.

The dead tigers, with their heads cut off, weighed 250kg and were found on Monday in a truck passing through Hua Hin in the Prachuap Kiri Khan province.

Police said the dead tigers were believed to have come from Malaysia and were being transported to China.

Bangkok Post also reported that genetic testing would be conducted on the tiger carcasses at Kasetsart University to see if they were domesticated or wild animals.

“If they were captive tigers, officials will investigate which farms they came from,” National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief Upai Wayupat told the daily.

In Malaysia, Department of Wildlife and National Parks enforcement director Saharudin Anan said further investigations would be carried out, particularly to determine from DNA profiling whether the tigers were from the Malaysian or Thai population.

There have been several cases in recent years of wildlife seizures in Thailand that purportedly involved animals caught from Malaysian forests.

Last January, Thai authorities thwarted an attempt to smuggle six tigers, two leopards and three clouded leopards at a village in Khub Pung, near the Laos border.

The cats, cut in half and their organs removed, were suspected to have been caught in southern Thailand or Malaysia and were bound for Vietnam and China.

In June 2006, Thai Police in Bangkok discovered illegal wildlife, including the remains of six tigers, from the cargo of an aircraft that came from the Thai-Malaysian border town of Haadyai

------------2nd News-----------

The Star
January 7, 2009
Illegal exports endanger box turtles in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The box turtle is disappearing across Malaysia because of increased illegal hunting for its meat and use in traditional Chinese medicine, wildlife activists said Wednesday.

TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, said in a new report that the Malayan Box Turtle "is in peril due to overexploitation'' despite a Malaysian government ban on its export since 2005.

Since the ban, export of turtles for the pet trade in Japan, Europe and the United States ceased, but TRAFFIC found widespread evidence of continuing illegal export, mainly to Hong Kong, China and to a lesser extent Singapore.

Exotic meats from wildlife are much sought after by the Chinese, who also use body parts of animals for traditional medicines including aphrodisiacs.

There is no commercial breeding of the animal in Malaysia or elsewhere because it is expensive and time-consuming.

"To meet demand, animals are being taken from the wild at an unsustainable rate, which has to be addressed or they will disappear from the Malaysian countryside,'' said Sabine Schoppe, the author of the report.

The report said a survey of stock at two traders in Selangor state found 385 box turtles in a 38-day period.

Multiplying by the number of known illegal suppliers of turtles gives a conservative estimate of almost 22,000 animals illegally exported per year from Malaysia, Schoppe said.

"Simple maths leads you to the obvious conclusion: stop the over-exploitation of Malayan Box Turtles, before we lose them,'' she said.

She said the vast majority of the illegally exported Malayan Box Turtles - distinguished by three yellow stripes on the head and a dark olive carpace - are adults.

This is especially dangerous because the species has a slow reproductive cycle and produces a limited number of eggs in its life span of 30 to 35 years. A typical adult is about 20 cms (8 inches) long.

The Asian Box Turtle, which includes a range of box turtles including the Malayan variety, was listed as vulnerable to extinction by IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in 2000.

TRAFFIC, a joint program of IUCN and WWF, urged Malaysia to strictly implement the export ban for one generation to allow numbers to recover.

It also called for better regional cooperation in controlling illegal wildlife trade, particularly at border crossings.

Misliah Mohamed Basir, deputy director of Malaysia's wildlife department, said it was difficult to stamp out the illegal trade.

Smugglers, if even convicted, often get away with a fine.

"We try our best to curb this, but it's not an easy job,'' she said. - AP