Year of the (threat to the) Malayan Tiger

 

On the morning of Jan 7, a three-year-old tiger weighing around 120kg fatally mauled an Orang Asli villager, and by the early afternoon, it had been hunted down and killed by rangers.

The rangers claimed the tiger was “mad” or suffering from rabies. What they did not tell us was that it had been wounded by spears when a group of Orang Asli villagers, who were searching for the missing villager, stumbled across the animal and threw their spears at it. An injured animal would most definitely appear to be “mad” if it is in pain and feels threatened. Besides, how did the rangers know it was rabid?

It was also alleged that the rangers initially used firecrackers to scare the tiger away. Why firecrackers? Was this an excuse to frighten the wounded beast and then, when it charged at them, they took aim and shot it dead?

What happened to the use of tranquiliser darts so that the tiger could later be transported into the deep jungle, like the protected forests of Belum-Temenggor, where it could roam freely? Why was there no attempt to trap the animal and catch it alive, to be released in a safe sanctuary later on?

What happened to the tiger conservation programme? And, more importantly, what happened to the carcass of the animal? There have been allegations that certain officials in wildlife agencies are involved in the illegal black market trade whereby animal body parts are sold for a lot of money.

Although the death of the villager is tragic and sad, the reason tigers have recently been sighted in agricultural areas, including outside the compounds of remote schools or the vicinity of villages, is because we have encroached onto their territory.

In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared that the Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) was endangered. The Malayan tiger is one of the six remaining tiger subspecies in the world and inhabits only in the southern and central parts of the Malay peninsula.

Their numbers had dwindled significantly from 3,000 in the 1950s to somewhere between 250 and 340 in 2015. It is claimed that there are fewer than 200 of them in the wild now.

Our tigers have fallen prey to rapid development, agriculture expansion and widespread hunting. As the apex predator, the tiger ensures that the forest ecosystem is kept in balance. Roaming over large areas, it is inevitable that the tiger will encroach upon agricultural areas, and the fringes of forests, to make contact with man. When this happens, the tiger faces the greatest threat, as he is hunted as a perceived threat to human life, or as a trophy.

Another threat comes from the Chinese traditional medicine industry, which has caused an increase in poaching activities, because of the lucrative trade in harvesting the body parts of the tiger for medicine.

The lead scientist in charge of WWF-Malaysia’s tiger conservation programme is Mark Rayan Darmaraj. In 2004, he was involved in tracking small mammals for his Master’s degree at Universiti Sains Malaysia. In 2012, he did his PhD at University of Kent in England, where he studied the conservation status of tigers and their prey in the Belum-Temenggor forests.

Darmaraj has made valuable contributions in spreading knowledge of the tiger’s ecology, and his research has provided the basis for conservation planning for tigers. More importantly, some of his proposals were incorporated into the National Tiger Action Plan (NTAP) for Malaysia.

The Belum-Temenggor forests are the location of the NTAP and WWF-Malaysia’s tiger conservation efforts. Located in northern Perak, the conservation area consists of the Royal Belum State Park (1,175 sq km) and the Temenggor Forest Reserve (1,489 sq km).

The illegal wildlife trade generates between US$8 and US$10 billion annually. Between 2009 and 2012, poachers were responsible for killing about 530 animals in Malaysia. Between 2009 and 2011, 138 snares were removed from tiger priority sites, and between 2000 and 2012, the body parts of 94 tigers were seized.

The tiger conservation programme is three-fold.

First, protection means providing increased and systematic anti-poaching patrols in the Belum-Temenggor forests. This means that the Royal Belum State Park can be more effectively managed, with the designation of minimum protected area standards for tigers.

Second, monitoring using cameras keep track of the tiger population and their prey.

Third, the programme engages with the Orang Asli communities to increase awareness and encourage participation in anti-poaching activities, together with alternative livelihood programmes which will reduce the dependence of the community on natural resources, which are derived from the tiger’s habitat.

Despite the efforts of the various departments, tigers are still being hunted indiscriminately in Malaysia. If the decline of our most powerful wildlife symbol is not halted, the tiger population of 3,000 in the 1950s, to the remaining few hundred today, will mean possible extinction. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.