KOTA BARU: Poachers have been raking in millions of ringgit in profit from selling organs of wild animals including tigers and elephants.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said illegal hunting activities have been taking at the country's forest reserves including in Gua Musang.
Apart from killing the wild animals, he said poachers also damaged the camera traps set up by wildlife rangers in the forest reserves.
"It cannot be denied that poachers are still active in certain forest reserves in the country including in Gua Musang, Kelantan and this can be among the factors that contribute to the dwindling population of the Malayan tigers in the country.
"Poachers are not only killing tigers, but also other animals including elephants for the their organs and selling them at the black market.
"The Wildlife and National Parks Department has adopted proactive measures such as setting up camera traps to protect the wild animals, but poachers have been aggresive, breaking these cameras into pieces," said the Kota Baru MP to reporters in response to news reports that Malaysia has less than 150 tigers in its forests.
Takiyuddin said the government had taken several immediate action in tackling the issue of the depleting population of the Malayan tiger, including the formation of the National Tiger Conservation Task Force (MyTTF) recently.
"The Malayan tiger is Malaysia's coat of arms symbol and also featured in the crest of states, government ministries, departments and agencies.
"The government has taken extraordinary action to tackle the issue at hand and the 'Keluarga Malaysia' concept will not only be applied on humans, but also extends to animals.
"It was a big loss to the country when the Kelantan Wildlife Department in Gua Musang was forced to shoot a tiger recently (when it charged towards the rangers)," he added.
On reports of tiger sightings in other districts in Kelantan, Takiyuddin said so far only Gua Musang reported such sightings.
"Wildlife rangers as well as other agencies have been monitoring the situation closely for the safety of the people in the Gua Musang district," he added