Dept denies doing nothing
Published on: Thursday, May 05, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Wildlife Department is going after hunters to curb the illegal trade of bushmeat in the state.Department enforcement chief Augustine Tuuga said they arrested two groups of hunters last week as part of this effort.He declined to provide details of the arrestes but said the hunters were found to have had in their possession wild boar, barking deer, pangolin and civet cats.
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"We are going after the suppliers of bushmeat and we think this is the best approach in dealing with this problem," he said in an interview yesterday.He said they were of the view that going after people selling wildlife meat at the tamu or farmers' market in the interior districts like Nabawan could lead to dangerous situation for their enforcement staff."The worry is that the situation could suddenly turn nasty when our staff seize the bushmeat," Augustine added.State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun had said that the department personnel had been threatened when carrying out checks at the Nabawan tamu.
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It was also reported last November that a conservationist was similarly threatened when he tried taking photos of bushmeat on sale at the market.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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A group calling themselves Wildlife Watchers of Sabah also sent to the media photos of the sale of the bushmeat in Nabawan as recently as April 30.
