Endangered wildlife openly traded on the internet
Published on: Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The authorities are taking the fight against the wildlife trade to cyberspace with the emergence of a bold trend on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to buy and sell protected species. One such "trader" is presently awaiting trial after he put on sale an endangered species on Facebook.Wildlife Department Director William Baya said, Monday, it was a lucky break for his officers who have been trolling the social media after receiving word that sale of wildlife was now openly discussed on the Net."We found pangolins, sun bears, slow loris, leopard cats and even hornbills among the animals captured and sold for their meat or as pets. Live pangolins for example are sold for between RM80 and RM160 per kg while its scale could fetch up to RM400 per kg.
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"Others could come up to RM8,000 or more. It is a lucrative trade," he said.This year alone, there had been 25 cases of illegal wildlife trade and possession including two cases last month. Between 30 and 35 people were found involved in the activities."Last year, there were 40 cases. So we are not seeing any slowing down of this illegal activity even with severe punishment meted out to offenders.
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"That is why, we are going to intensify our efforts in clamping down the activity. Our officers are constantly monitoring tamus because many poachers are notorious for selling their wares openly in tamus all over the State," he said.He acknowledged the fight is far from over as one such group, comprising some 27,000 members of a Facebook account and who used to trade their wares openly appear to have gone underground.
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"The group had been operating for at least a year. We believe there are more groups like it, posing as a place to buy and sell pets while at the same time, advertising captured protected species. "We are lucky that among the thousands of their members, there are also thousands of wildlife sympathisers who alerted and provided information to the department," he said. The department had concluded that the sales of protected species is confined to the domestic market but did not deny that some may have successfully exported these exotic animals overseas.The department will also be updating its website to educate the public on the list of protected species.Furthermore, the department is clamping down on restaurants and coffee shops that buy and sell the meat of these protected species. Baya lamented that lack of resources is impeding its efforts to eradicate the illegal activity once and for all."We do not have enough vehicles or enforcement officers and Sabah is very big, it is equivalent to six states in the peninsula. Just imagine the area we have to cover," he said, adding that currently, the department only has 50 rangers to cover the whole of Sabah.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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