Nature Alert: Johor, Pahang Transit To Smuggle Exotic Animals

Friday 19 June 2009

Johor, Pahang Transit To Smuggle Exotic Animals

June 19, 2009 PM Malaysia

Johor, Pahang Transit To Smuggle Exotic Animals

KLUANG, June 19 (Bernama) -- Unscrupulous syndicates are using Johor and Pahang as transit to smuggle exotic animals to a neighbouring country for lucrative gains.

In revealing the modus operandi of the syndicates, Wildlife and National Parks Department's deputy director of laws and enforcement Celescoriano Razond said they would store the exotic animals in several isolated areas in the two states before smuggling them to a neighbouring country via land or water.

He said this in a press conference at the department's district office here Friday.

While Razond refused to reveal the intended neighbouring country where the exotic animals were smuggled into, Bernama learnt it was Thailand.

It is also learnt that once the cargo reached Thailand, it would continue its journey to Laos before making the final destination to China.

The demand for exotic animals in China is very high, especially from restaurants which serve exotic dishes, and from traditional medical practioners.

Earlier, Razond had announced the success of the department's Wildlife Criminal Unit (WCU) in confiscating 11 Malayan Porcupines, an endangered species which is protected under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (Act 76).

According to him, the animals were confined in a special cage when seven WCU officers ambushed the place in an oil palm plantation in Yong Peng yesterday.

"Porcupine meat fetches high price in the illegal market, which could reach between RM80 to RM100 a kilogram and there is a demand for their internal organs for traditional medicine," added Razond.

He said that an internal organ of the porcupine known only as 'porcupine stone' -- which some swear could heal various ailments -- was known to fetch up to RM10,000 among believers.

-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=419254

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.