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Malaysia rescues 59 pythons from dinner table: official

Malaysia to double Tiger population by next year: govt
Malaysia's deputy premier has announced plans to double the population of the endangered Malayan Tiger through a new initiative to manage and conserve the big cat in its natural environment. Muhyiddin Yassin said the government's new biodiversity council had adopted the National Tiger Action Plan in a bid to boost the dwindling population. The plan targets an increase in the Malayan tiger population "to 1,000 by 2020 in their natural habitat," he told state media Bernama late Wednesday. "We will take concrete efforts to protect the tigers, including in situ conservation efforts. The aim is to also widen the area where wildlife is protected." Wildlife activists have welcomed the government's endorsement of the plan, urging greater enforcement of laws to protect the animals. "High level support behind the action plan is crucial not just to save tigers but their habitat and prey species," Chris Shepherd, acting head of wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC Southeast Asia told AFP. A "decline in their prey base" is one of the key threats to the tigers, he added. The government said in July it has also sought the help of the military to battle poaching, which wildlife activists say has reduced the number of Malayan Tigers in the wild from around 3000 in the 1950s to fewer than 500 tigers now. "Enforcement in Malaysia and across tiger-range states needs to be stepped up as tiger (numbers) have declined so sharply in the last few years," Shepherd added. "We are not going to be able to save tigers unless enforcement and deterrents are in place."
by Staff Writers
 Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Nov 5, 2009
 Malaysian wildlife authorities rescued 59 pythons from being skinned and sold to restaurants and leather dealers, an official said Thursday.

Wildlife and National Parks Department enforcement head Saharudin Anan said the pythons were rescued in a raid last Monday from a warehouse south of the capital.

"We found the pythons, together with python and lizard skins in the store where they were in the midst of being sold," he told AFP.

He added that two individuals had been arrested and were being investigated under the Wildlife Act.

"The python meat would end up on dinner tables in the region while the skins would be used in making exotic leather luggage for international markets in Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam," he added.

Wildlife groups say the trafficking of wildlife, for use in traditional medicine or to be eaten in kitchens abroad, has hit alarming levels in Malaysia.

Authorities in recent months have seized tiger skins, the remains of civet cats, long-tailed monkeys and wild boars that were destined for sale in neighbouring countries.

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