Under Watch but Tannery Owner Blinded By Greed

By Shahrum Sayuthi

TEMERLOH: For two weeks, a tannery owner in Jaya Gading, Kuantan, could only see the ringgit sign as workers unloaded monitor lizards and snakes for illegal export to China and Hong Kong.

After all, monitor lizards and snakes fetch between RM150 and RM200 per kilogramme in China and Hong Kong.

He failed to notice enforcement officers from the State Wildlife and National Parks Department who had staked out his premises after coming to know of the matter.

About 4.30pm yesterday, the officers raided the tannery and arrested him and another man.

The officers were shocked to find 748 clouded monitor lizards, 231 oriental rat snakes and four king cobras ready for “export”.

Also confiscated were 800 grammes of pangolin bones and scales meant for the local traditional medicine market.

The duo, remanded at the Kuantan police headquarters, face an array of charges including being in possession of protected animals and inhumane treatment of animals.

The animals are believed to have been bought from Orang Asli poachers.

The seizure comes in the wake of similar cases in Perlis, Kelantan and Penang.

State Wildlife and National Parks Department director Inche Ali Che Aman said the laws against poachers and animal smugglers were too lenient and had contributed to the continuous hunting of endangered animals.

“Punishment under present laws is hardly a deterrent as wildlife poaching and smuggling is a very lucrative business,” he said.

The maximum punishment for the offences is a fine not exceeding RM3,000 and jail of not more than three years.

“These people can pay the fine and the jail term is not too long.”

Inche Ali said the department was also investigating the possibility of a syndicate running a network between illegal animal traders in the country.

“We are trying to connect the case here with several others in other parts of the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, initial investigations by the Wildlife and National Parks Department in Kuala Lumpur showed that this seizure could be connected to the recent attempt to smuggle 2,400 snakes out of Penang.

The people involved in both cases could have been supplied by the same smuggler, said enforcement division deputy director Celescoriano Razond.

“We think the supplier is one of the biggest smugglers operating in Pahang. The smugglers may have split their illegal haul of wildlife and tried to sell it through different routes.”

(c) 2007 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.