Wildlife Dept requests DNA samples of the four China-bound animals from Thai authorities
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is taking an extremely serious view of the recent discovery in Thailand of four tiger carcasses believed to be from Malaysia.
Perhilitan is willing to send its officers to Thailand to conduct investigations if permission is granted, said its Legislation and Enforcement Division director Saharudin Anan.
Saharudin told Malay Mail he had requested DNA samples of the tigers from the Thai authorities but had yet to receive them. The samples were necessary so as to enable Perhilitan to conduct DNA profiling to determine if the tigers found were indeed local.
"If the profiling is done in Thailand, then we would request to be given access during the procedures and its findings."
"Our enforcement measures have already been beefed up and there are concrete efforts to catch the culprits. If we are unable to get the DNA samples, then we would like to establish any other possible links. That is why we would like to exchange intelligence information between the two nations so we can get to the bottom of this matter, especially if we have established the tigers originated from Malaysia," he added.
It was reported in the Bangkok Post on Jan 6 that Thai police had arrested two men after the tigers were discovered the previous day in a truck in Prachuap province, all with their heads cut off.
It is believed the tigers originated from Malaysia and were en route to China. The Bangkok Post further reported that genetic testing would be conducted at a Thai university to determine if the animals were wild or domesticated.
Ironically, the tiger discovery came less than two weeks after the Malaysian government released the National Tiger Action Plan aimed at doubling the number of tigers in the wild from 500 to 1,000 by 2020.
On another note, Saharudin told Malay Mail the department had now added owls to its list of animals at risk of being smuggled.
"Last time, there were no cases of owl smuggling but now we are seeing more of such cases," Saharudin said, citing the recent seizure of 319 skinned owl carcasses at a workshop in Jalan Bukit Ubi, Kuantan on Jan 11.
Aside from owls, wildlife officers found 25 hind legs and 22 paws belonging to the endangered Malayan Sun bear as well as 2,330 "live" clouded monitor lizards.
In November last year, wildlife officers discovered carcasses of over 900 owls of various species during a two-day raid at two storage facilities in Muar, Johor.
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