The carcass of a Malayan tiger discovered in the boot of a car in Johor. Photo: Facebook \/ KDNKA \n<\/p>\n
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian wildlife and political groups reacted with outrage Thursday after the carcass of a critically endangered Malayan tiger was discovered in the back of a car, leading to the arrest of three suspects.<\/p>\n
The dead animal was uncovered when wildlife authorities searched a car at the hamlet of Felda Tenggaroh in Johor state, about 380 kilometres (237 miles) southeast of Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Three men between the ages of 28 and 49 were arrested after they failed to show special permits allowing them to possess the dead animal.<\/p>\n
The tiger, whose sex was unknown, had been snared and shot six times in the head, news reports said.<\/p>\n
Malayan tigers are critically endangered, and fewer than 150 of the animals — the Southeast Asian nation’s national symbol — remain in the wild.<\/p>\n
“We are outraged that despite the tireless efforts and sacrifices of rangers, poachers still brazenly destroy this majestic species for fleeting gain,” WWF-Malaysia said in a statement to AFP.<\/p>\n
It called for the stiffest sentences if the perpetrators were convicted “sending an unmistakable message that Malaysia will not tolerate the killing of its most endangered species”.<\/p>\n
Tiger Protection Society of Malaysia Lara Araffin said the killing “demanded the harshest sentence”.<\/p>\n
“Tigers are apex predators that keep our rainforests in balance,” she told AFP, asking, “Do we really want a Malaysia without them?”<\/p>\n
The incident, widely covered by local Malaysian papers, “was deeply distressing and has sparked outrage across the country,” said the Malaysian Chinese Association, one of the ruling coalition’s political parties.<\/p>\n
“The poaching of the Malayan tiger, already a critically endangered species, is a direct assault on decades of conservation efforts,” The MCA’s Youth Wing said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Malayan tiger is classified as critically endangered by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature.<\/p>\n
Killing or possessing a tiger carries a penalty of up to one million ringgit ($237,00) and up to 15 years in prison.<\/p>\n
About 3,000 Malayan tigers once roamed the country’s jungles in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
But its population has declined over the decades due to a loss of habitat from development and agricultural expansion, as well as poaching.<\/p>\n
“To Malaysians, the Malayan tiger is more than a species — it is a national symbol… Losing it would mean losing part of who we are as Malaysians,” the WWF-Malaysia said.<\/p>\n
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