Indonesian Villagers kill a Tiger

Indonesian Villagers kill a Tiger

The tiger had been lurking in nearby forests and locals in the village of Mandailing Natal in North Sumatra took it to be an evil spirit. Intrigued by the animal, the villagers gathered for a look-see one day. In response, the tiger attacked them, seriously injuring two villagers. So the…

Living in Harmony with Wild Elephants

Living in Harmony with Wild Elephants

Across Malaysia herds of wild elephants are increasingly coming into contact with people. They may end up severely injured or dead as a result. The pachyderms may be poisoned or shot when they venture into plantations to snack on crops. But it does not have to be this way. Take…

Ivory Smugglers remain Relentless

Ivory Smugglers remain Relentless

One hundred forty-eight kilograms. That’s how much African elephant tusks confiscated by customs officials at an international airport in Bangkok weighed. The large haul of ivory, which is worth around 15 million Thai baht (RM1.9 million), was comprised of three large tusks and 31 tusk fragments. They had been flown…

WWF: Stop the Slaughter of Elephants

WWF: Stop the Slaughter of Elephants

Elephants are highly intelligent social animals. It is this trait of these wonderful creatures that is on full display in a moving new advert by the World Wide Fund for Nature. In the one-minute video, which is available on YouTube, an African Elephant watches helplessly as poachers shot dead members…

Another Pygmy Elephant is Shot Dead

Another Pygmy Elephant is Shot Dead

The wild pygmy elephant was found dead near a small river at an oil palm plantation in Tawau. The pachyderm’s remains were riddled with three bullets. It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened: the bull elephant had been killed either by plantation workers or local farmers…

Much of Wildlife suffers Even in Canada

Much of Wildlife suffers Even in Canada

Canada. Mention the country’s name, and many people can’t help but instantly picture vast stretches of unspoiled natural bounty with scenic mountains and meadows teeming with wildlife. That’s hardly a surprise. Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, with a whopping 9.984 square kilometers of land…

Companies in Malaysia are Mum about their use of Palm Oil

Companies in Malaysia are Mum about their use of Palm Oil

The results are in and they aren’t all that encouraging: some two-thirds of 47 companies in Singapore and Malaysia surveyed by the World Wide Fund for Nature may be using palm oil obtained in unsustainable ways. We don’t know if they indeed are because they won’t tell. Sad, yes. Palm…

Where Tigers are on the Menu

Where Tigers are on the Menu

Tiger farms are horrible places. That we have long known. What we have not known is just how horrible some of them are: they operate as little more than meat factories where the predators are cooped up in small cages where visitors can gawk at the majestic creatures before the…

Sniffing out Wildlife Traffickers

Sniffing out Wildlife Traffickers

Wildlife traffickers tend to be a wily lot. Routinely they can easily avoid wildlife and customs officials by hiding their ill-gotten merchandise of ivory and rhino horns in well-concealed packages. Enter canine wildlife guardians. With their acute sense of smell, which is a thousand times stronger than that of humans, so-called detector dogs are…

UN: Coral Reefs will be experiencing annual Mass Bleaching

UN: Coral Reefs will be experiencing annual Mass Bleaching

Malaysia’s stunningly beautiful coral reefs have been at increasing risk of mass bleaching as a result of growing water temperatures. And things, the United Nations warns, are only going to get worse for corals everywhere, Malaysia included. In coming years and decades many reefs will experience not just episodic bleaching once in a while, which is…

Wildlife Crime: an ‘Existential Threat’

Wildlife Crime: an ‘Existential Threat’

Wildlife crimes and corruption routinely go hand in hand. For starters, without certain officials willing to turn a blind eye to rampant trafficking (for kickbacks and other rewards), traffickers would have a much harder time. But the problem can go much deeper than that. A pervasive culture of bribery, money laundering and institutionalized…

Scrambling to Save Malaysia’s Wildlife

Scrambling to Save Malaysia’s Wildlife

In its newly released Living Planet Report 2016, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has painted an alarming picture of the impending prospects of the planet’s wildlife. Unless we change course, the numbers of wild animals will have declined by a staggering 67% by the year 2020, a mere…