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Tackling the Diminishing of Tigers

  • Publication Date | August 28, 2019
  • Document Type | Letter to the Editor
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Wildlife
  • Tags | Poaching, tigers, wildlife crime, Wildlife Trade
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Credit: flickr

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is heartened to learn of the Government’s commitment to battle poaching by increasing manpower through a special battalion assigned to aid the Wildlife Department in the patrol of the country’s jungles. 

The number of wild tigers estimated to be left is only about 250. This is alarming.  All efforts in the past are not working to save the tigers.  At best they have only slowed the rate of their decline.  The time for mere hand wringing over our disappearing forests and diminishing wildlife has long passed.

Deferring action for another decade is not an option anymore.  It is time to act now and fast in order to achieve the vision to double tiger numbers in the next 12 years.

Recovering wild tiger numbers requires a multifaceted approach that includes protection of the tiger and prey, buffer zones, dispersal corridors and addressing a host of problems that must be solved to save wild tigers – including confronting poaching.

Poaching, although illegal, has remained unrelenting around the country taking its toll on already severely stressed animal populations.  At current rates, several species may well go extinct in the wild within a few years.  But poachers do not care – they see magnificent animals like tigers, elephants and rhinos as mere sources of cash.  They not only target these megafaunas but are prepared to kill other endangered animals that come their way as their aim is only to earn lucrative returns.  Poaching and illegal wildlife trade are not just a local problem but also involve international syndicates using advanced technologies.

Poaching is threatening to wipe out some of the most vulnerable species from the face of the Earth.  

Malaysia’s harsh penalties under the Wildlife Act 2010 are meant to serve as deterrents but perpetrators are unscrupulous and routinely shrug off the prospect of years in prison knowing there is little chance of being caught.  Laws are merely words on paper and the authorities, underfunded and undermanned, continue to play a cat and mouse game with traffickers who regularly run circles around them. 

Poaching is an ever evolving threat and will continue to happen because it is rarely a political priority and is a very lucrative business.  The current wave of poaching is carried out by sophisticated and well organised criminal networks – using night vision equipment, tranquillisers and silencers to kill animals at night, avoiding law enforcement patrols.  Commercial poachers are equipped with tracking technology, high powered firearms, and covert transport routes to evade rangers within protected areas.  To mitigate this, wildlife authorities require more boots on the ground to deter poachers and enforce the wildlife laws.    

The Natural Resources Ministry has mulled over the shoot to kill policy which has also caused concern. However, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution to the poaching crisis.  Anti-poaching rangers must do all they can to avoid killing a poacher because it would be much more beneficial to catch and arrest a poacher, giving the opportunity to recover valuable information about who has commissioned them, knowing the supply chain and likely smuggling routes.  Killing a poacher will achieve very little in terms of reducing the number of poaching incidents; at best it can only provide a temporary deterrent, or move gangs onto targets perceived as softer. Syndicates can easily find another person willing to take the risks.

If a poacher refuses to throw down his weapons then the rangers may fire.   The shoot to kill policy should only be used as a last resort and only in self-defence. But sadly, there will always be the chance that lives will be lost in the exchange of fire. 

It would be much better if rangers have the necessary training and resources to make arrests, and feel confident that the laws are in place to convict the kingpins running the illicit trade.   

There must be proper management of our forests with frequent patrols to stop poachers from plundering our forests and wildlife.  Time is crucial to effect changes in perception and policies, and challenge consumers’ desires for traditional medicines, body parts and tiger skins.

Live tigers must be seen as worth more than dead ones.

MEENAKSHI RAMAN

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
Chee Yoke Lingstudent of SAM, Executive Director of Third World Network, SAM’s sister organisation

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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