KUCHING, May 16: Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) is investigating any illegal hunting of wildlife in Sarawak.
SFC was responding to a recent article entitled “Outrage over blatant slaughter of wildlife allegedly carried out by Sarawak hunting group” published in The Star newspaper on May 15 and the Facebook (FB) posting by Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre on May 13 alleging that all hunting as posted on the FB page “Pemburu Malaysia” happened in Sarawak.
“Upon checking and investigation made to the said FB page, the members are found to be from all over Malaysia and the page is for those ‘trigger-happy’ persons to show-off their bounties.
“Those activities have affected and influenced the local hunters in Sarawak to start joining the group and literally posting theirs on the page,” SFC said today as it also clarified that the hunting of wildlife also happened in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.
Currently, SFC said it is in the process of verifying the news and the genuine owner of the related Facebook account, urging members of the public with such information to channel the information directly to SFC.
“The viral behaviour or even posting it in the newspapers somehow affected the on-going investigation as the suspects will immediately remove their postings to avoid being detected or traced and such situation made the investigation incomplete.
“There are some processes and procedures that need to be followed in the investigation and it takes time to conclude.
“So, please be patient. Let us do our work first.
“We will get back to you on the progress,” said SFC chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton.
Zolkipli who is also SFC Controller of Wild Life stressed that hunting of wildlife is allowable with a licence in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah but not in Sarawak.
He pointed out that in Sarawak, no hunting licence is issued.
He explained that the gun licence issued by respective authorities is only for the purpose of crop protection, but was found to be abused by irresponsible people.
However, he added hunting for subsistence by the local natives is allowed in Sarawak under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 as it is their natives’ rights.
Hence, he urges members of the public who have information on illegal activities to report to SFC through its hotlines – Kuching (019-8859996, 013-8110150), Sibu (019-8883561), Bintulu (019-8223449, 019-8332737), or Miri (019-8224566, 019-8290994).—DayakDaily
