Malaysian authorities today destroyed some 9.55 tonnes of seized elephant tusks worth about USD20 million (RM80 million) at Seremban’s Environmental Quality Centre.
The operation, the first of its kind carried out by local enforcement agencies, was in done in accordance to the Malaysian government’s obligation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, which it signed on January 18 1978.
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, told Sinar Harian that DNA tests conducted on the elephant tusks revealed that they had been procured from wild elephants native to Gabon, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, the Ivory Coast, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic.
“It is possible that these tusks were meant for the Chinese, Taiwanese, and Thai markets. Our country became the transit point for these importers; Malaysia itself has no illegal ivory trade industry to speak of,” he said.
According to investigations by participating local agencies, the tusks were transported into the country via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang.
The largest single seizure of elephant tusks in Malaysia took place on December 11, 2012, with 2.366 tusks confiscated in Port Klang, Selangor.
“By destroying these tusks today, we want to send a message to everyone that there can be no benefit to killing these endangered species,” Wan Junaidi said.
