Lam Thye: Boost efforts to protect Malayan tapir
KUALA LUMPUR: Animal rights activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye has once again urged all parties to boost efforts to protect the Malayan tapir.
This follows the death of a tapir in Hulu Langat, believed to have been the result of a botched rescue attempt.
Lee, Selangor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (SPCA) patron, told the New Sunday Times that a more comprehensive and effective awareness campaign was needed.
Drawing on the incident on Oct 26, where a tapir was found in a drain in Taman Desa Saujana, Batu 14, Hulu Langat, he said rapid development would push wildlife into human settlements.
He said those who didn’t know how to rescue animals should not attempt to do so.
He said they should call the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan), as its officers were experts in the matter.
“We do not want the same thing to recur where people who do not know how to handle animals that are lost, injured or trapped, botch a rescue attempt.
“At the same time, we do not want carcasses to be mutilated or their parts stolen for their supposed medicinal properties,” said Lee, referring to an incident in April where a tapir was found in Simpang Slow Temiang near Kuala Krai in Kelantan with its skin and nose removed.
In the Oct 26 incident, Perhilitan officers found that the animal’s ears, front leg, trunk and skin were mutilated.
Checks suggested that the animal could have succumbed to inappropriate rescue methods and stress.
The Civil Defence Force has since denied that its personnel or firemen had mishandled the tapir and, instead, claimed that the animal was strangled and tied with ropes by the public.
Lee called on members of parliament to raise the matter in the Dewan Rakyat, so that an allocation can be included in the 2018 Budget to address the issue.
He said funds should be made available to organise an awareness campaign, and implement building habitats and special routes for animals in high-risk areas.
“More viaducts for animals need to be built with the help of Perhilitan along highways and roads that cut through | their habitats or migration routes.”
He said 40 tapirs had been killed in road accidents since 2010.
The latest incident involved two tapirs at the Gebeng bypass in Kuantan two months ago.
“Perhilitan’s records show that there are 61 road and highway networks that have roadkill incidents.
“The five with the highest number of cases are Jalan Kuala Lipis-Gua Musang, Jalan Kulai-Kota Tinggi, Jalan Gua MusangKuala Krai, East Coast Expressway 2 and Jalan TaipingSelama.”
He said new land transport routes, including the HighSpeed Rail project between Malaysia and Singapore and the East Coast Rail Link that will connect Kuala Lumpur and the east coast, must take animal habitats and migration routes into account.
Lee said the conflict between man and wildlife was deplorable and he believed that many were unaware that Malayan tapirs were on the verge of extinction, with only 1,200 to 1,500 left in the wild in the peninsula
“Although the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, which replaces the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, provides higher penalties to those who kill wild animals, lack of awareness among the people has caused this problem to persist.”
Those who take body parts of protected animals can be charged under Section 68 of the new act, which is liable to a maximum three years’ jail or a fine of not more than RM100,000, or both, upon conviction.
Abuse of wildlife is also punishable under Section 86 of the act, with those found guilty liable to a fine of up to RM50,000 or one year’s jail, or both.