Wan Junaidi: 'Hunt animal poachers down'

PETALING JAYA: No effort must be spared in bringing the wildlife poachers behind the senseless killings of Bornean pygmy elephants and turtles to justice, says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic).

"The Ministry strongly urges the Sabah Wildlife Department and other agencies in Sabah to work tirelessly to find the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against our turtles and other wildlife as soon as possible," the Natural Resources and Environment Minister said in a statement on Saturday.

Dr Wan Junaidi said he was appalled by and condemned the blatant lack of regard for the welfare of turtles by unscrupulous groups of people living in Sabah's coastal areas.

It was reported that two pygmy elephants had been killed for its tusks and hundreds of sea turtle carcasses found on Pulau Bum Bum in the Semporna district.

He said the recent find of turtle remains in the sea near Pulau Bum Bum was "deeply saddening", as was the killing of pygmy elephants.

"Their (pygmy elephants) tusks are brutally cut off and the poor animals were left to die a slow and painful death in the rivers and forests of Kinabatangan and Tawau," he said.

Dr Wan Junaidi said the Ministry, through its Biodiversity and Forestry Management Division, was ready and willing to offer any assistance to the Sabah Wildlife Department to catch and punish these criminals.

He added that the Ministry was committed to preserving the nation's land and marine wildlife.

"It is a testament to our level of civilisation when we are able to live in harmony with the flora and fauna in our country, which have every right to exist on earth as we humans do," he said.