There’s bad news from Kuala Lumpur but something is being done in an attempt to reverse a situation.
Back in the 1950s, there were about 3,000 tigers in Malaysia. There are now less than 200 Malayan tigers left as poaching ploughs on, even in the tiger priority state of the Belum-Temengor forest reserve. They are classed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN's Red List.
Poachers are driven by demand for tiger body parts for traditional Chinese medicine and other uses. Hunters from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have been drawn to the area.
Poachers have set up thousands of snares, according to WWF Malaysia’s Tiger Landscape, and these have trapped tigers and other wild animals. Deer and wild boar – the tiger’s natural food source – have been caused by poachers and locals who hunt the animals for sport.
The tigers roam the jungle in search of food or a mate but they find it hard or impossible to find food, so haven’t got enough energy to survive or reproduce, which means the tiger numbers have gone down even further.
WWF Malaysia have established patrol teams of indigenous people in Belum Temenggor. These teams undertake daily patrols, retrieve snares and report possible poaching areas. But there’s a lot of the jungle to cover, and these secluded areas aren’t easy to reach. A specialist force with tactical and jungle survival skills is required.
The good news is that the police will be helping the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) rangers to patrol deep in the jungle.
The police have agreed to send two General Operations Force battalions from Senoi Praaq to carry out patrols in identified forest areas. They will be tracking down poachers, especially those helping the Malayan tiger.
The WWF patrol teams have removed about 1,400 snares and released 269 different trapped animals since 2014.