A staggering one out of every five mammal species native to Malaysia are in danger of going extinct, making Malaysia one of the most dangerous countries in the world for endangered wildlife.
According to data from the World Bank, in 2014, 70 out of Malaysia’s 336 mammal species were under threat – the seventh highest rate of endangerment on the planet in this category.
Among Malaysia’s most threatened mammals include the Sumatran serow, the Sumatran rhinoceros, the dugong, and the Malayan tiger. Some species populations have been whittled down to only a few hundred in total.
Malaysia is second in the region only to Indonesia, which has 184 endangered mammal species, making it the worst place on earth for mammals under threat.
According to The Star‘s Patrick Lee, World Bank data attributes the shrinking populations of these endangered mammals to rampant logging, over-development, wildlife trafficking, and poaching.
Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia director Dr Melvin Gumal said the data confirmed what biologists were seeing everyday.
“We must reverse this trend for if we don’t, our collective legacy will be the witnessing and documenting of the loss of our wildlife species,” he said.
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