KisaH KiJe

Wildlife officers save smuggled pangolins from cooking pot

The Star, 31 May 2006

Wildlife and National Parks Department ranger Mohd Fairos Shaari and assistant officer Shazatul Farina Abdul Latiff inspecting the rescued pangolins at the department’s Perak office in Ipoh on Tuesday.

IPOH: Thirteen pangolins, including a mother and her baby, were rescued from the cooking pot after authorities received a tip-off on Monday night.

Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department enforcement officers seized the pangolins, worth RM13,000, after stopping a lorry at a junction near Chenderong Balai, about 70km from here, at 10pm.

Department director Shabrina Mohd Shariff said the two men in the lorry at first denied they were smuggling anything but her officers detected a stench coming from the vehicle.

“The lorry was on its way to Kedah but we believe they were headed for Thailand,” she said when contacted here yesterday.

“There, they would be worth much more as an exotic dish, perhaps RM100 per kilo.”

Shabrina said the pangolins – seven females, five males and the baby – had been caught at oil palm estates and surrounding areas in Hilir Perak.

“The animals will be released into the Sungkai Wildlife Reserve,” she said, adding that a police report was lodged at the Chenderong Balai station.

Shabrina said this was the fifth case of pangolin smuggling in Perak this year.

The men, from Padang Serai, Kedah, will be charged under the Protection of Wildlife Act. The offence carries a maximum two-year jail term or RM3,000 fine, or both.

teringat zaman2 kije.. ni gambar mase buat kuatkuasa kat jabatan perhilitan perak..huhu! masuk THE STAR time nie.. (agakkss gemoksss aku time nie) hihi