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(January 31, 2022) KUCHING: Better intelligence as well as effective laws and enforcement are needed to protect pangolins from trafficking, says a conservationist. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Program Country Director Dr Mark Rayan Darmaraj said recent cases in Sarawak, which saw heavy fines imposed on offenders for illegally possessing pangolins and their scales, were a positive sign of successful prosecution and the state's commitment to tackling threats to wildlife.

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(January 26, 2022) KUALA LUMPUR: There were no wildlife poaching cases during Covid-19 pandemic last year thanks to movement restrictions and border control. The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) said the number of wildlife smuggling also recorded a drop by 60 per cent in 2021, from 10 cases in 2020 to four last year. As for poaching cases, the department recorded 10 in 2020.

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(January 25, 2022) A statement by the Kelantan forestry department director yesterday that logging is good for tigers invoked public furore, and there have been subsequent misconceptions and debate on what constitutes good tiger habitat. The director was quoted as saying the research findings came from a researcher in Sarawak, but his statement has also been linked to a journal paper based on a study conducted almost 20 years ago by WWF-Malaysia in Kelantan itself. The findings in this paper have subseq...

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(December 24, 2021) PETALING JAYA: A wildlife expert has pointed to animals roaming in urban areas after escaping the floods as proof of habitat destruction wrought by humans. Mark Rayan Darmaraj, the Malaysian country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said forest clearing at the hands of developers had made the country’s natural environment less resilient to shocks. Speaking to FMT, he said: “Pristine wildlife habitats are not greatly impacted if these flooding events are not intense...

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(December 08, 2021) The Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme (WCS Malaysia) congratulates the Royal Malaysia Police, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), the Customs Department and other enforcement agencies for arresting 127 individuals, making RM31.86 million worth of seizures and destroying almost 300 animal traps under Op Bersepadu Khazanah this year. This was revealed by Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim ("OBK proves successful in addressing wil...

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(December 04, 2021) The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Program congratulates the Royal Malaysian Police, Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan), Royal Malaysian Customs Department and other enforcement agencies for the arrest of 350 individuals, making RM36.11mil worth of seizures and destroying 1,425 animal traps under Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah carried out nationwide since September 2019.

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(November 01, 2021) THE Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme (WCS Malaysia) is heartened by the news that the Wildlife Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2021 has been passed, which provides heftier punishments for wildlife offenders (“Amendments to Act 716 more responsive to wildlife conservation current needs – Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan”, theSun, Oct 26). Some of the notable amendments include an increase in fines of up to RM1 million for c...

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(October 27, 2021) LETTER | The Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Program (WCS Malaysia) is heartened by the news that the Wildlife Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed by the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, which provides heftier punishments for wildlife offenders. Some of the notable amendments include an increase in fines of up to RM1 million for certain offences, and an increase in jail terms of up to 15 years for others.

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(July 29, 2021) By marvelous fortuity or perhaps especially clever planning, International Tiger Day and World Ranger Day are two days apart on the calendar. On July 29th, the world pauses (one hopes!) to reflect on the magnificence of Asia’s great cat and remind ourselves that its fate is very much in human hands. On the 31st, we acknowledge the thousands of women and men working on the front lines of protecting the tiger and other imperiled species around the globe. The connection is especially apt. ...

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(July 22, 2021) IBAN folk tales and oral history on wildlife are being broadcast on radio from this month to raise awareness on conservation. Ten three-minute recordings of the stories were produced by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia in collaboration with RTM Sarawak, with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Enlyst Fund.

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