Tiger Hunters May Fall Prey to Malaysia’s Poaching Clampdown [View All]

[Coventina]

Source: Bloomberg

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Only once in 20 years of hunting in the Malaysian jungle did Bo witness the shooting of a tiger.

“That’s like hitting the jackpot,” said Bo, who mostly hunts wild boar for sport and declined to give his full name because tigers are a protected species in Malaysia. “I’ve never had the opportunity to shoot at a tiger.”

Only about 500 tigers remain in the wild in Malaysia, compared with 3,000 in the 1950s, after habitat destruction and poaching to supply an illegal trade in skins and parts for traditional medicines, according to Traffic, a wildlife-trade monitoring group. Tiger killers who are caught face a maximum fine of 15,000 ringgit ($4,035) -- less than a 10th of the price a pelt can fetch in China, according to data from the Havocscope Black Market Environmental Index.

(Snip)

Now, environmental groups and the government have banded together to reverse the decline in the local tiger population. The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers, or Mycat, teams conservation groups Traffic, WWF, the Malaysian Nature Society and the Wildlife Conservation Society with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, to implement a National Tiger Action Plan aimed at doubling the number of wild tigers by 2020.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aG_gBYnY47ug&refer=news

---

More like Bo didn't want to use his full name because he's a worthless piece of...

:mad: