National Tiger Survey 90% complete, says Perhilitan

Perhilitan DG

THE two-year National Tiger Survey is expected to be completed early next year, Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Hashim says.

Abdul Kadir said the department had covered about 90% of the survey area and still had some 15,000sq km of land to do.

He said the Malayan Tiger population in the wild was believed to be fewer than 200 currently.

“It is at a worrying level.

“If our survey finds there are fewer than 100 of them left, it is without a doubt that the tiger will likely be extinct in the next five years,” he said during the launch of the Kuang Raya (Great Argus) Conservation Programme at Sunway Lost World of Tambun in Ipoh.

“We are working with enforcement agencies, universities and non-governmental organisations to protect the species,” he added.

It had been reported that the survey was part of the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry’s “Harimau Malaya Kita” campaign to prevent the species’ extinction.

Perhilitan has also launched Ops Belang to monitor known tiger habitats and combat poaching.

During the conservation programme launch, three pairs of Kuang Raya (Great Argus) became the latest residents at the theme park.

Under the programme, the local pheasant species was chosen due to ongoing natural habitat loss and hunting.

Abdul Kadir said although the department did not have exact figures for the number of the birds in the wild, it was not ruling out the possibility of it being endangered.

“In fact, the population of most of the animals in our country is being decimated due to habitat loss.

“We hope the pheasants will breed successfully under this conservation programme,” he said.