Indonesian Borneo - Forestry Department seized 117 protectedanimals

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Thursday, August 30, 2001

Dept seizes 117 protected animals

 

KUCHING: The Forestry Department seized 117 protected

live mammals and birds in a major crackdown on the

illegal trade of wildlife in Serikin,a village in Bau

district on the border with west Kalimantan, last

Saturday.

 

It acted following recent news reports that several

protected species, like Borneo gibbons, western

tarsiers and flat headed cats, were traded there.

 

The department's public relations officer Yakop Jalel

said the seized animals and birds, including a black

eagle, were now being kept at the Matang Wildlife

Centre near here.

 

He said Indonesian traders abandoned the animals and

birds in the bushes near to the pasar tamu and fled

when the department's enforcement officers approached

them.

 

Yakop said the operation was carried out early on

Saturday, and would continue.

 

Saying that it was an offence to trade in protected

wildlife, he warned that an offender faced a fine of

up to RM50,000 and up to five years' jail if

convicted.

 

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http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2001/8/30/nation/kchmama & sec

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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