A PKR leader and leaders of animal rights group allege that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks had culled macaques en masse last year in discreet.
PETALING JAYA: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) culled 97,300 macaques last year, alleged PKR vice president N Surendran today.
Speaking at the press conference held at the party headquarters here, Surendran said that Selangor recorded the highest number of killings, at a staggering 18,800.
“Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong confirmed that the state government has a ‘no kill’ policy in place for macaqaues and practise trans-location system to rehome the animals.
“So why is the federal government carrying out such a heinous mass killing programme?” asked Surendran.
Also present were the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) president Christine Chin and Malaysian Animal Welfare Society (Maws) president Shenaaz Khan.
On where he got the figures, Surendran said that it was from Perhilitan’s own records.
He also alleged that the killing could not have taken place under the supervision of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) due to the high numbers.
“We cannot allow this continue any longer as it will will affect our image in the global arena. In fact, it is also illegal under the Wildlife Act 2010,” said the PKR leader.
Surendran said that with the vast development taking place in Malaysia, it is inevitable that humans and macaques may come into conflict but insisted there were more humane ways to deal with the primate population.
“Even in the case of over population, we can sterilise them or trans-locate them to other jungles, not kill them indisriminately,” he said.
On how they primates are being culled, Surendran said he was in the dark as Perhilitan had not divulged details on it.
“The whole thing is shrouded in secrecy but from what I have heard, the government had employed private contractors to deal with the macaques,” he alleged.
Echoing Surendran’s sentiments, Chin said that killing macaques indiscriminately would not solve any problems related to development.
“We need to live with nature rather than destroying them. Even in 2007, several experts from Hong Kong told us they were ready to help Perhilitan to sort out the matter but till today, the latter didn’t get back to us,” she said.
Training her guns on Perhilitan, Shenaaz urged the government body to reveal details on how they had killed the macaques.
“You can spend tens of millions to bring pandas, a non-native species to Malaysia, but at the same time you kill our native species en masse,” she said.
Surendran urged Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas to come clean on the matter.
“Perhilitan could not have done this without Douglas’ knowledge,” he alleged, adding he would lodge a police report on the matter soon.
PETALING JAYA: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) culled 97,300 macaques last year, alleged PKR vice president N Surendran today.Speaking at the press conference held at the party headquarters here, Surendran said that Selangor recorded the highest number of killings, at a staggering 18,800.
“Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong confirmed that the state government has a ‘no kill’ policy in place for macaqaues and practise trans-location system to rehome the animals.
“So why is the federal government carrying out such a heinous mass killing programme?” asked Surendran.
Also present were the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) president Christine Chin and Malaysian Animal Welfare Society (Maws) president Shenaaz Khan.
On where he got the figures, Surendran said that it was from Perhilitan’s own records.
He also alleged that the killing could not have taken place under the supervision of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) due to the high numbers.
“We cannot allow this continue any longer as it will will affect our image in the global arena. In fact, it is also illegal under the Wildlife Act 2010,” said the PKR leader.
Surendran said that with the vast development taking place in Malaysia, it is inevitable that humans and macaques may come into conflict but insisted there were more humane ways to deal with the primate population.
“Even in the case of over population, we can sterilise them or trans-locate them to other jungles, not kill them indisriminately,” he said.
On how they primates are being culled, Surendran said he was in the dark as Perhilitan had not divulged details on it.
“The whole thing is shrouded in secrecy but from what I have heard, the government had employed private contractors to deal with the macaques,” he alleged.
Echoing Surendran’s sentiments, Chin said that killing macaques indiscriminately would not solve any problems related to development.
“We need to live with nature rather than destroying them. Even in 2007, several experts from Hong Kong told us they were ready to help Perhilitan to sort out the matter but till today, the latter didn’t get back to us,” she said.
Training her guns on Perhilitan, Shenaaz urged the government body to reveal details on how they had killed the macaques.
“You can spend tens of millions to bring pandas, a non-native species to Malaysia, but at the same time you kill our native species en masse,” she said.
Surendran urged Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas to come clean on the matter.
“Perhilitan could not have done this without Douglas’ knowledge,” he alleged, adding he would lodge a police report on the matter soon.
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