LETTER | The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) under the National Resion that it is operating at an optimum level while international syndicates continue to smuggle out Malaysia’s wildlife
An arrest is made, and it is depicted as the department’s success story.
An example is the seizure of a black-winged kite bird worth RM100,000 in a raid at Taman Sungai Kapar Indah, Kapar, Selangor.
The raid was the result of a joint operation “Op Bersepadu Khazanah” by the Federal Reserve Unit (Intelligence) Branch in collaboration with Selangor Perhilitan.
The case was investigated under Section 68 of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716).
There are many cases such as the above that are reported by the media.
There are also cases where legitimate pet shops and licensed exotic animal breeders are being harassed by the agencies under the ministry.
While one may not come across media reports on this, it is discussed at length on social media sites such as Reddit.
Legitimate industry players are frustrated with the heavy-handed action by Perhilitan and related agencies.
Under the circumstances, Perhilitan’s success stories serve as a public relations stunt since the department is perceived as going after small timers and not the bigger players who are involved in wildlife trafficking.
The ministry received a budget of RM2.38 billion under Budget 2026. Of that, RM250 million was allocated for ecological fiscal transfer, and RM50 million was given to the state governments.
For the rangers, the ministry allocated RM80 million to hire 2,500 community rangers.
The annual allocation used to beef up enforcement teams and re
It is a bitter pill to swallow, but Malaysia remains a key transit hub for illegal wildlife trade due to several factors.
Traffic Southeast Asia director Kanitha Krishnasamy said that Malaysia is both aat masterminds are hardly detained, let alone prosecuted
This means Malaysia remains a central global transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade for Southeast Asia and Africa. There is also a massive consumer market in East and South Asia.
Our ae to the massive passenger volume and global route connectivity
Where maritime is concerned, Port Klang is among the world‘s top 10 ports and also contributes to maritime blind spots.
Syndicates have been packing multi-tonne maritime shipments with exotic animal products such as pangolin scales, ivory and rhino horns.
Another structural weakness in protecting Malaysian wildlife is the lack of a single federal wildlife protection body.
Perhilitan only functions in Peninsular Malaysia.
Sarawak Forestry Commission is in charge in the largest state, whereas its Borneo neighbour is managed by the Sabah Wildlife Department.
Having multiple agencies hampers cross-border coordination and investigation.
Syndicates have also adapted their marketing by migrating their markets to open internet platforms. According to Global Monitoring Data, 74 percent online wildlife trade advertisements are on social media channels.
Transnational criminal syndicates have been found to manage local stockpiles here and Malaysia has been serving as a foreign wildlife consolidation zone.
While syndicates have been exploiting the structural weaknesses, Perhilitan also leaves much to be desired.
In the culling of dusky leaf monkeys in Port Dickson in 2021, the Court of Appeal ruled that Perhilitan’s action was disproportionate and unlawful.
The second case involved three elephants – Dara, Amoi, and Kelat – that were transferred from Taiping Zoo, Perak to Tennoji Zoo, Osaka, Japan in April.
As of last month, the MACC is investigating the elephant transfer.
As mentioned previously, Malaysia is a well-known wildlife smuggling hub, both as a
Why is this the case? Sheer incompetence, or is there a wildlife mafia rising within the government department?
It is time the MACC conducted a thorough probe on all wildlife and environment enforcement agencies, just as it had done on the immigration and customs scandals.
Past and present administration
Interestingly, in 2017, a study based on the IUCN findings resulted in the Red List of Mammals for Peninsular Malaysia.
• One was classed as extinct,
• Four as critically endangered,
• 83 as least concern, and the remaining
• 76 as data deficient.
The report was published under the Najib Abdul Razak administration. Surely Perhilitan under the Madani government can do more.
The writer is a veteran journalist.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views ofMalaysiakini.
