KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has prosecuted 23 cases related to pangolins since 2002, said State Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga.
Five cases were from Keningau, four in Lahad Datu, Tawau and Sandakan (3), Papar and Tawau (2), and one each in Sipitang, Telupid, Beaufort and Luyang.
In recent years, amendment has been made to the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997,
in which the world’s most trafficked animal is now being upgraded as a totally protected species.
Those found hunting, consuming, possessing or selling pangolins or their parts could face a minimum fine of RM50,000 up to a maximum fine of RM250,000 or a minimum imprisonment term of one year up to a maximum term of five years or both.
“Some of the mentioned cases are prosecuted under the new amendment, which heavier penalties are being handed down to offenders and some of them are still serving their imprisonment sentence.
"However, crimes against pangolins continue to this day although the Sabah Wildlife Department is trying its best to combat illegal poaching,” he said, adding there is a need for everyone to be involved in preventing pangolins from getting poached and from going extinct.
Augustine was referring to a recent bust of a pangolin smuggling syndicate with seizures worth RM8.4 million and the arrest of a man found with 23 live pangolins brought into Sabah from Lawas, Sarawak.
Meanwhile, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Christina Liew said they are in the midst of finalising the establishment of the Sabah Pangolin Sanctuary and Research Institute to conserve the species with a Penang-born philanthropist Peter Chan.
Chan, who is also an engineer, had said that he is optimistic that research and technology could increase the chances of protecting pangolins.
“What we are doing in the research part is to set up an algorithm to track these kinds of things which can also be used for law enforcement.”