KOTA KINABALU: Everyone should work together to prevent other endangered species from facing similar fate of the country’s last rhino, said WWF-Malaysia.
Its chief executive officer Sophia Lim said the organisation was saddened by the death of Iman that was suffering from tumour.
The loss of the female rhino signifies the complete loss of the Sumatran rhino in Sabah and the hope of ever seeing this species in the wild is now forever gone.
“While we can do little to prevent the loss of the Sumatran rhinos on our lands, we can still do so much for our other remaining species, all of which are in danger of facing similar fate of extinction if we don’t address the threats that they are facing.
“Malaysia is home to some of the most iconic wildlife species in the world. This includes the Malayan tiger, the Bornean elephant, the Bornean orangutan and many more,” she said in a statement, adding that poaching and illegal wildlife trade were still identified as the main threats.
Although there were some successes in arresting poachers and seizures of wildlife meat, those could be merely at the tip of the iceberg, she said.
She said that wildlife crime was not just a local problem but was part of an international wildlife trade syndicate associated with drug and human trafficking, as well as money laundering.
As such, she said, it was a timely call to set up a Wildlife Crime Bureau within the police force and collaborate with international agencies such as Interpol, Traffic International and regional wildlife hubs set up by WWF for Africa and Asia.
“Tackling issues such as poaching requires a concerted effort between all parties – the government, non-governmental organisations and the general public.
“WWF-Malaysia urges the government to further enhance the effort to eradicate poaching and act fast in bolstering efforts to preserve the remaining wildlife that we have,” she said, adding WWF was glad that the police had stepped up collaboration with other agencies to patrol the forests.
Lim also said that besides poaching, the remaining forests should also be retained either as protected areas for wildlife sanctuaries, or forest reserves where harvesting of timber was done in a refined and sustainable manner.
Wildlife corridors should also be established at fragmented forests to enable breeding among different population groups to maintain healthy gene pools, she added. Isolated populations inevitably face inbreeding, and in the long-term faced extinction.
“Government needs to formulate policies and enact regulations, scientists and conservationists need to identify the locations, and private sector has to set aside land for the restoration of forests into wildlife corridors,” she said.