Man with 12 pangolins nabbed in Beaufort
Published on: Wednesday, November 26, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wildlife Rescue Unit rescued 10 out of 12 pangolins heading for the dinner table through the black market trade by smuggling rings presently active in Sabah. But six of them have since died, no thanks to the poor condition they were in when they were discovered.The rescue came following the arrest of a 21-year-old man from Johor during a regular police roadblock in Beaufort on Oct 30.
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Cher Jia Wei was detained by police after nine plastic bags containing the animals were found inside a storage compartment on four wheel drive vehicle he was driving. He was then surrendered to the Wildlife Department for investigation. "Two of the pangolins were already dead, while many of them were dying when found," said Wildlife Assistant Director Dr Sen Nathan, on Tuesday."We believe that the man was part of a smuggling ring either for restaurants here in Sabah or smuggled overseas.
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"Chia, however, was not the hunter and neither was he, in the pet trade," he pointed out. Dr Sen added a healthy demand for authentic dish are constantly fuelling poachers to hunt for pangolins, where they are being served off the menu secretly to patrons in certain restaurants in Sabah.
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"We had received information before that some restaurants are doing this illegally. They are a very, very closed group. Very secret, mostly to cater to patrons who are tourists from China," he said. According to him the pangolins were found in a very bad state, seriously dehydrated with loss of body fats, and looked highly stressed. "Everything was done to care for the poor animals. As of now only four are surviving," said Dr Sen, adding that the department is hoping to release the pangolins back into the wild as soon as possible. The Beaufort Magistrate Court on Nov 24 sentenced the Johor man to a fine of RM10,000 or a year's jail for illegal possession of the protected wildlife. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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