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Malaysian Tigers Spared KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, September 24, 2002 (ENS) - This summer tigers terrorized rubber tappers and villagers in the Tanah Merah and Jeli districts of the Malaysian state of Kelantan. Three people were killed and several were mauled. In response to the human-tiger conflict, the chief minister of Kelantan, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who also serves as chairman of the Land Committee, and of the Forestry and Natural Resources Committee, said he would use the army to kill all tigers in these districts.
On August 14, Aziz said that a large scale operation involving the army would be carried out to hunt down the tigers in Jeli, and that the state government would cover the expenses for what he expected would be a two month exercise. Because tigers are a critically endangered species, with only about 6,000 left alive in the wild anywhere in the world, this announcement brought cries of outrage from citizens groups across Malaysia and around the world. WWF-Malaysia Executive Director Dr. Mikaail Kavanagh Abdullah, said, "We are shocked and appalled by this news. The proposed slaughter is cruel, inappropriate, unnecessary, and illegal under Federal Law." Kavanagh said, "It is totally protected for good reason - because it is endangered. Having destroyed so much of tiger habitat, we now have to manage carefully areas where tigers and humans live in close proximity." This can be done with careful research and planning, he said. "Nobody can guarantee to stop all human-tiger conflicts but there is international experience on minimizing such problems without resorting to such extreme measures," said Kavanagh. Another large citizens group, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), said its members are "horrified" at news of the recent decision to shoot tigers in Kelantan. "Rather than passing a death sentence on the defenseless tigers, it is about time the authorities took a serious look at the root cause of this tiger-human conflict," SAM said. "Shooting all tigers will not solve the problem." SAM pointed out that the tigers have been squeezed by human encroachment. "Even the most protected areas are modified environments, and in many cases parks and reserves have only remained on paper while no effort is being taken to study the impact of human intrusions and violations of protected areas," the group wrote. Aziz defended his stand that tigers threatening the lives of residents in Jeli should be killed. "For the nature lovers, they are of the opinion that wildlife is a treasure of the State. But as an old man taking care of the State, I feel the people's lives are more important," he told the "New Straits Times," on August 24.
There was much international "concern and distress" following the minister's threat to shoot tigers on sight, said the London based wildlife conservation organization Born Free. Letters and petitions poured in from the international conservation and welfare community. Born Free suggested that the government help villages develop fuel wood alternatives such as more fuel efficient stoves "to prevent human incursions into the forest for wood collecting." There should be "swift and full compensation" for death of humans and livestock, said Born Free. "If payments are not immediate then those affected will defend themselves by trapping, shooting or poisoning the tiger." The WWF held a Save the Tiger charity event in Kuala Lumpur on September 1, and mounted an email and letter writing campaign asking that the tigers be spared. That effort generated "7,000 emails sent to the environment minister, hundreds of letters and faxes sent to the chief minister and more than 1,500 e-postcards urging others to take action," the group said. Many individuals wrote letters to newspapers on behalf of the villagers, such as this one by a Kuala Lumpur man to the editor of the "New Straits Times." "Families of tiger victims must be compensated so that they will not take the law into their own hands," he wrote, "After all, the villagers are not to blame for being attacked by tigers." Now it appears that Aziz is willing to work with the "nature lovers" to resolve the problem. Kavanagh offered WWF's services to the state of Kelantan, and Aziz has accepted the offer. The chief minister was quoted in the local media as saying he welcomed any help that WWF may provide in resolving the issues at Jeli and Tanah Merah. The state government is willing "to discuss financial matters as well as long as the plan was able to resolve the problems villagers are facing," Aziz said. The WWF said it will initiate a meeting with Kelantan officials, particularly those in the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. WWF-Malaysia has been working in Jerangau Barat, Trengganu on solving tiger-human conflicts for almost three years, said Kavanagh, and there are many lessons which could be learned from that project. And, for now, the tigers of Jeli and Tanah Merah are spared, as long as they don't kill any more rubber tappers or villagers. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved. |
Kelantan Chief Minister Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz (Photo courtesy 
Malaysian tiger (Photo © 