69wildlife“More resources must be urgently invested into
protecting Malayan tigers and who better to direct such
moves than Malaysia’s elected leader?”
And this means not just the
handful of tiger people shouldering a
burden hundredfold, but that everyone
needs to step in and step up, starting
with none other than the Malaysian
prime minister. MYCAT’s clarion call to
the prime minister: establish a “tiger
task force” with the sole purpose
of saving Malaysia’s national icon,
whatever it takes, without taking the
business-as-usual approach. “Now
is the time for aggressive, innovative
measures led by quality scientific
research in informed decision-
making,” says MYCAT.
Citing Thailand’s Huai Kha Khaeng
Wildlife Sanctuary, which has 284 full-
time staff patrolling 19,000 kilometres
every year, for example, the group
says, to achieve the same intensity
of foot-patrols in the 4,343 square
kilometres of Taman Negara – the
largest priority area for the Malayan
tiger – requires 400 personnel
patrolling the park full time. Yet the
current available manpower is less
than 10 percent of what is needed.
“More resources must be urgently
invested into protecting Malayan
tigers and who better to direct such
moves than Malaysia’s elected
leader?” asks MYCAT.
MYCAT also believes there must
be increased involvement of business,
local communities and citizen
conservationists – and to this end, it
has been cultivating partnerships with
members of these various sectors.
MYCAT’s flagship citizen conservation
programme, Citizen Action for Tigers
(CAT), is the only programme in
Malaysia that enables volunteers
PHOTO KIVILAAKSO-MYCAT
to participate in anti-poaching
wilderness watches.
Volunteers look out for signs of
poachers, snares, as well as tigers,
elephants, sambar and other species
on what are called CAT Walks. Snares
and traps found are recorded,
deactivated and reported to the
authorities. Camera traps are checked
to monitor wildlife. Kicking off in 2010,
the lunar year of the tiger, it has since
resulted in the removal of hundreds
of snares, saving many animals from
death or injury and passed actionable
information to the authorities, leading
to raids and arrests of poachers and
their middlemen.left One of the rare moments
such a majestic being can be
appreciated is in captivity: A
Malayan tiger yawns at the
National Zoo Park in Kuala
Lumpur
below MYCAT volunteers on
the tiger trailEUROPEAN OUTDOOR
CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION (EOCA)
The European Outdoor Conservation
Association (EOCA) is a non-profit
association made up of companies from
the outdoor industry across Europe.
EOCA aims to conserve wild places and
ecosystems for future generations by
supporting valuable conservation work
and promoting care and respect for wild
places. http://www.outdoorconservation.eu