JOHOR BARU: A charity dinner and cricket tournament have raised more than RM15,000 to help save Malayan tigers.
The proceeds were donated to the state’s Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) branch, in aid of conservation efforts to save the dwindling tiger population.
A team of expatriates and local cricketers called the Jolly Wallabies organised the events, which were held at the Johor Cricket Academy in Taman Mutiara Rini here.
The Jolly Wallabies, Spirits Cricket Club and TGA Singapore’s cricket players displayed true sportsmanship in the charity tournament.
Jolly Wallabies founder and Captain Ralston Thiedeman said besides enjoying the day out and raising funds, the event was to create an awareness of the importance of saving the tigers.
“It’s an honour to work for such a noble cause and I hope our efforts will help,” he said, adding that with less than 300 tigers estimated in the wild, conservation efforts are paramount.
Highlights of the day included an auction and tiger face-painting.
Thiedeman said the Jolly Wallabies took their social responsibility seriously and had organised charity events for organisations such as the Palliative Care Association of Johor Baru and Tabitha Foundation in Cambodia.
MNS chairman Vincent Chow said the Malayan Tiger is on the brink of extinction.
He said funds will be channelled towards the production of educational materials and dissemination of information about the tiger species to schoolchildren and university students.
“The Malayan Tiger is the nation’s icon.
“So, immediate action is paramount to ensure they are saved, before the species is deemed ‘critically endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,” he said.
Chow said the tiger population is threatened by illegal poachers, wildlife trade, and loss of natural habitat because of forest fragmentation.
Tiger parts are in high demand in many parts of Asia for traditional medicine and poaching has decimated the species for centuries.
MNS was established in 1940 and is the oldest and largest membership-based environmental non-government organisation, with more than 4,000 members in 14 branches nationwide. By Jassmine Shadiqe