KUALA LUMPUR – The Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Program (WCS Malaysia) congratulates the National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) and Royal Malaysian Police for the recent success of Ops Bersepadu Khazanah (OBK), a special operation against poachers which is conducted concurrently in several parts of the country.
In a press conference, Deputy Commissioner Datuk Mastor Mohd Ariff stated that a Cambodian man was arrested on 16 October 2019 for poaching in Endau-Rompin National Park. 162 nylon snares, 1kg of agar wood, four parts of a wildboar, five axes and machetes, as well as agar wood extraction tools were seized. He also stated that further investigation will be conducted to uncover whether the suspect has been working with an accomplice.
“WCS Malaysia is pleased with the arrest and the seizures of numerous items used by the poacher, including 162 snares and axes,” remarked WCS Malaysia Director, Dr Melvin Gumal. “The call to protect our natural heritage and support our wildlife protection agencies by the Inspector General of Police and subsequent arrests nationwide is a huge boost to all conservation in the country. Kudos to Perhilitan for making the Ops Bersepadu Khazanah such a priority. It must also be such a morale booster for them. Long may we have such conviction to save our wildlife and forests”.
OBK was launched on September 3 this year. In October 2019, four operations at Felcra Sungai Temau in Kuala Lipis, Kampung Padang Kunyit in Gerik, the Endau-Rompin National Park and Tembat Forest Reserve in Hulu Terengganu resulted in the arrest of ten men; seven Cambodians and three Malaysians aged between 30 and 50.
Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Program is headquartered in Kuching, Sarawak, with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Kahang, Johor and Kuala Rompin in Peninsular Malaysia. Currently, WCS Malaysia works to preserve four priority species – orang-utans, sharks and rays, elephants and tigers. Go to https://malaysia.wcs.org/ for more information on WCS Malaysia and visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WCS.Malaysia/ for updates.
Article was published on 23rd October 2019 | WCS MALAYSIA