Section:GDN 1N PaGe:40 Edition Date:190907 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/9/2019 18:03 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Saturday 7 September 2019
(^40) World
Kate Lamb
Jakarta
A mystical Malaysian island is grap-
pling with a “sea borne invasion” of
wild boars, which some believe are
swimming across one of the world’s
busiest shipping lanes before destroy-
ing crops as they forage.
“The sea borne invasion of wild
boars leaves us in despair as the ani-
mal population is increasing,” said
Nor hizam Hassan Baktee , chairman
of the Malacca agriculture committee,
of the infl ux on to Pulau Besar.
The creatures are thought to be
from Indonesia, which would mean
navigating the busy Malacca Strait,
a 550-mile-long (900km) stretch of
water between Malaysia and Indone-
sia that is only a few kilometres wide
at its narrowest point.
Fishermen working in the strait
have reported seeing “snouts in the
dark” in coastal waters each night,
Agence France-Presse
New York
New York has unveiled its latest
weapon in the city’s long-running war
against rats – an alcohol death trap.
Rodents are often seen scurrying
between subway tracks and sniffi ng
around rubbish bags in the US’s largest
metropolis. Thousands of New York-
ers ring a health department helpline
every year with rat complaints.
City offi cials have spent millions
of dollars trying to curb rats over the
years, deploying everything from birth
control to vermin-proof rubbish bins.
This week they said they had found
a solution: a machine that attracts rats
with bait and then triggers a trap door
that drops them into a pool of alcohol.
“It knocks them out and they drown
eventually,” said Anthony Giaquinto ,
president of Rat Trap , which imports
the devices from Italy.
Rats climb a ladder to eat the bait. A
sensor trips a lever that plunges them
into a tray that holds 80 rat carcasses.
Brooklyn borough’s president, Eric
Adams, said: “It’s humane and envi-
ronmentally friendly.”
though the animals may also have
been stowaways on shipping.
The wild boars are using the island
of Besar as a landing point before
crossing to the Malaysian mainland.
“The mystical island of Pulau Besar
here has witnessed widespread dam-
age from the ‘migration’ of dozens of
these wild boars, including piglets,”
said Baktee.
Pulau Besar is a sleepy tropical
island located about nine miles off
the Malaysian coast, across from the
Indonesian island of Sumatra. The
agriculture committee said it was
concerned the migrant pigs might
soon outnumber the island’s small
human population.
The department of wildlife, known
as Perhilitan, in the Malaysian state
of Malacca has reportedly agreed to
deploy staff to shoot the animals, said
Baktee. “Perhilitan is bringing in three
sharp shooters on a mission to save
Pulau Besar from the wild boar inva-
sion,” he said.
Pulau Besar has long held a place in
the imagination of mystics, spiritual-
ists and pilgrims. It is said to be home
to the graves of several people who
fi rst brought Islam to the Malay archi-
pelago in the 14th century.
Other tourist draws include a mys-
tical cave where warriors were said to
once practise traditional martial arts,
a legendary well and a large boulder
believed to grant wishes.
Last year the state government
pledged to rebrand the island as a
tourist resort and free trade zone in
an eff ort to eliminate “superstitious
and sacred activities” and promote
local products, such as cocoa.
Malaysian isle
alarmed at
invasion of
boar – by sea
New York turns to
alcohol to deal with
its plague of rats
▲ Bearded pigs. Pulau Besar has had an infl ux of their cousins KEVYN BURNS/ ALAMY
100 miles
100 km
Kuala
Lumpur
Singapore
Dumai Malacca
Strait
Malaysia
Indonesia
Pulau BesarBesarBesar
‘Seaborne invasion’vasiosion’
of wild boars thouof wild boars thouhought
to be from Indonto be from Indonenesia
‘The seaborne
invasion leaves
us in despair’
Norhizam H Baktee
Agriculture committee
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