Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar is not mincing his words when it comes to poaching activities in his state, taking to Facebook to issue a press statement regarding his intentions to step up the Department of Wildlife and National Parks’ (PERHILITAN) efforts to “intensify operations and patrols to combat illegal wildlife hunting.”
At a press conference earlier this week at his palace, he added that the state was rich in flora and fauna, and that they must “always be preserved and taken care of.”
His comments were accompanied by a photo that was widely circulated this week showing four tigers in the jungles of Kota Tinggi, lapping up water along Sungai Sayong. Two of the animals were the even-rarer white tigers.
“This is my warning to all hunters, local or foreign, as well as to the Orang Asli — if they illegally hunt tigers or any other form of wildlife, then they in turn will be hunted,” the sultan said in his post.
“I want PERHILITAN to increase their operations and patrols in Johor’s forests to combat and even eradicate illegal hunting.”
Sultan Ibrahim’s initiative comes hot on the heels of high-profile stories of the unlawful killing of elephants that have made headlines over the last few months. Netizens, meanwhile, have praised his preemptive move against would-be poachers.
Malayan tigers are native to Peninsular Malaysia, and inhabit the country’s southern and central regions. Thousands once roamed the jungles of Malaysia, but the species is now critically endangered, with fewer than 340 believed left in the wild.
It is also Malaysia’s official animal, and depicted often on national emblems and its coat of arms.
Nonetheless, it is still a target of poachers. Tiger skins, prized as upscale home decorations, can be sold on the black market outside Malaysia for thousands of dollars.
People found hunting protected wildlife in Malaysia can face jail time of up to five years as well as a fine of up to RM500,000 (US$125,000).
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