I WRITE in response to the article, “World-class conservation centre rising in Lanchang” (NST, Sept 17). While I applaud the government’s attempt to set up a conservation centre such as the Tiger Valley in Lanchang, I am concerned that it may not be the best way to approach the conservation of the Malayan tiger.
The Malayan tiger is a distinct tiger subspecies found only in the Malay peninsula. The species is also an apex predator, which means it controls the overpopulation of the animals it feeds on.
The latest estimates put the number of these tigers at around 250 to 340. Kill one a day and they will be gone in less than a year.
Poaching is very real. Between 2010 and 2011, more than 1,000 snares were discovered in three priority areas identified in the National Tiger Conservation Action Plan.
The National Park spans Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu, the Royal Belum Rainforest in Perak and the Endau Rompin Rainforest in Johor.
Extinction is also real. In Malaysia, the Javan rhino is now extinct. The leatherback turtle that is synonymous with Rantau Abang is effectively extinct. The Sumatran rhino is critically endangered and surveys conducted in 2005 were only able to gather evidence of 13 animals in the interiors of Sabah.
Imagine if the number of Malayan tigers in the wild drops to such alarming levels. All hopes of saving them will be
gone by then.
Imagine if they disappear altogether. How will Malaysia be different from other countries which only have captive Malayan tigers? The Malayan tiger is an irreplaceable icon of our country. Our national footballers are called Harimau Muda or Young Tigers. It is on our national car and it also appears on our national crest. Maybank’s logo is a tiger.
The Malays gave it a respectful nickname of Pak Belang, and in Chinese culture, the tiger is the king of animals, as shown by the four stripes on his forehead, which form the character wang or king.
Conservation efforts should not be about relocating conflict animals to a centre (regardless how big that centre is) but, it should be a multi-pronged approach that includes the following:
DETERMINE how best to protect and even expand the areas in which the animals live in naturally. This is so that the existing numbers can live unthreatened and their numbers can increase;
EDUCATE the public and those who live nearest to these animals;
RESCUE injured animals or those that have come into conflict with humans and rehabilitate them for the sole purpose of eventually releasing them to the wild; and
HOUSE those which can no longer be released until they eventually pass on.
Tiger Valley will not help increase the wild tiger population or protect and increase its natural habitat. If the government is serious about tiger conservation, put aside the RM45 million allocated for Tiger Valley and look instead into creating wildlife corridors for these animals to roam from one area to the next.
Use the RM45 million to connect all the three priority areas to our central range, and look at rehabilitating the prey species such as sambar deer (which, by the way, is also decreasing in numbers) so that these tigers can roam again throughout these forests as they once did.
Hire more rangers for the Wildlife Department to patrol the areas identified as poaching hotspots. Provide more allocations and support non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as MyCAT, World Wide Fund for Nature–Malaysia and Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) for their tiger conservation efforts. Facilitate cross-ministry co-operation to ensure that there is no encroachment into protected areas. There is no other way to ensure the conservation of our Malayan tigers.
If there really is no way to opt out of Tiger Valley, then, at least guarantee that a detailed management plan be drawn up with a committee that includes NGOs, and give the latter a say.
The management of Tiger Valley should be transparent and accountable to the people as it is being supported by public funds. But I still feel that Tiger Valley will not help with conservation efforts as it does not address the tigers’ main plight, namely shrinking habitat and poaching.
Lim Puay Aun, Kuala Lumpur