KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Poaching still remains the most urgent and critical threat to the Malayan tiger, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia).
Its executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma noted that the presence of foreign poachers in Malaysian forests underlined the urgent need for the country to step up wildlife protection efforts on the ground, including transboundary collaboration.
“The illegal wildlife trade is an organised crime that is threatening the existence of many species. It operates the same way as illegal drugs and weapons — by dangerous international networks with links across the globe,” he said in a statement today.
He said by practising intolerance towards wildlife crimes and working together to support conservation, there was still hope to protect the Malayan tiger.
“It’s time for the Malayan tiger to be made a national priority and a collective responsibility of all Malaysians,” he said, noting that the Global Tiger Day would be marked on July 29. — Bernama
