PUTRAJAYA: A man was sentenced to four months in jail and a RM550,000 fine by the Kajang sessions court yesterday for illegally harbouring several protected wildlife species.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the 51-year-old man pleaded guilty to nine counts of possessing wildlife species without valid licence.
"The species include a female tiger (panthera tigris), a female leopard cat (prionailurus bengalensis), a red-backed sea-eagle (haliastur indus), a common green magpie (cissa chinensis), two white-crowned shama (copsychus stricklandii), a Schneider’s dwarf caiman (paleosuchus trigonatus), a Java mouse-deer (tragulus javanicus), a common hill myna (gracula religiosa) and a white-rumped shama (copsychus malabaricus).
"He was prosecuted under Section 60 (1) (a), Section 68 (1) (a), section 70 (1) and section 70 (2) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010," Wan Junaidi said in a statement today.
The man was detained by Wildlife and Natural Parks (Perhilitan) enforcement officers on Oct 19 last year at his house in Kajang.
Wan Junaidi said the prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutor Ainul Mardiyah, who was assisted by Perhilitan prosecuting officer Nazaruddin Kamarudin.
The minister advised the public, especially those wanting to maintain wildlife habitats, to abide by the law and refer to Perhilitan beforehand to obtain a licence and special permits for wildlife species.