The Malaysian Insight

ALONG with the success of Ops Bersepadu Khazanah (OBK) to curb illegal wildlife trade, comes the problem of rehabilitating the animals rescued from poachers. 

Since OBK began in September last year, 1,145 animals have been rescued from the wildlife meat market, or becoming traditional Chinese medicine, or being kept as exotic pets, or skinned for their pelts.   

The operation, which sees the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) rangers conduct joint patrols with members of the the police’s elite Orang Asli unit, Senoi Praaq, has also seen RM23.2 million worth of illegal items seized and 115 arrests so far.

Perhilitan officer Che Ku Mohd Zamzuri Chik Wan Ab Rahman said of the more than a thousand animals rescued from poachers, 487 are birds, including peacocks, parrots, budgies, parakeets and other rare birds.

Other animals rescued are 114 mammals, which include the Asian palm civet cat, silvered leaf monkey, wild boar, slow loris, bearcat, hedgehogs or porcupines, sugar glider possum, sun bears and the Asian leopard cat. 

The rest are 26 reptiles and 518 tortoises and freshwater turtles. 

Zamzuri said the rescued animals are sent to the government-run National Wildlife Rescue Centre (NWRC) in Sungkai, Perak, and the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan, Sabah. 

Centres like Sepilok have become popular destinations for tourism and education as well. 

“Malaysia was once a paradise for wildlife as our tropical rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests in the world and a favourable habitat for wild animals,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

But demand for meat, bones and pelts, and as pets has driven wildlife poaching and smuggling, resulting in vastly diminished numbers of treasures like the Malayan tiger, elephants, rhinoceros, orangutan and other rare species.

Governments committed to wildlife conservation and they are obliged under international convention to establish rescue centres to aid confiscated wildlife. 

Zamzuri said the NWRC in Sungkai was opened in 2013 to rehabilitate wildlife seized during enforcement operations. 

“The centre is set up in accordance with the provisions of the Endangered Species Trade Act and is one of Malaysia’s obligations in the International Convention on the Trade of Endangered Species and Fauna. 

“The centre’s function is based on the 3Rs of rescue, rehabilitate and release.” 

Zamzuri said the NWRC in Sungkai is undergoing a three-phase development project costing RM30.3 million. Rescued animals here are treated by 30 veterinary doctors from Perhilitan. 

“As of end of 2019, the NWRC in Sungkai has a total of 4,538 wildlife of various species,” he said. 

Zamzuri said some of the rehabilitated animals find it hard to be released back to their natural habitat after growing used to their human carers. 

“They prefer to follow humans around, are unable to find their own food and have difficulty sleeping by themselves and want to sleep with their carers. 

“We have to address all these during their rehabilitation and it takes time,” he said. 

Zamzuri said with growing awareness on endangered wildlife, he hoped more people would not adopt exotic pets, such as the case of a local singer who kept a sun bear as a pet.

Zarith Sofia Mohd Yasin, was fined RM27,000 by the court earlier this month for violating the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. 

“Sun bears are an endangered species in the ‘totally protected’ category of the Act. Permission to keep such endangered animals are only given to zoos or rescue and rehabilitation facilities, and have to go through an application process requiring approval from the water, land and natural resources minister,” he said.

The ministry is also planning to amend the Act to increase fines and jail terms for poachers.

Malaysia is considered both a source country and a transit hub in the illegal wildlife trade network, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.

The industry is estimated to be worth between US$7 billion and US$23 billion annually.  

Zamzuri said the government is pouring funds into conservation programmes, with RM1.08 million for tigers, RM15 million for elephants and RM18.1 million for other species. 

He said public education and awareness was also essential, as fighting illegal wildlife trade is not the job of law enforcement alone. 

“The love for wildlife has to be inculcated from young, as early as primary school.” – February 2, 2020.