Wildlife and turtle eggs seized

Sarawak Forestry Corporation officers raiding a stall at the Bintulu market in northern Sarawak.

MIRI: A series of raids by Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) in several districts led to the seizure of protected slow loris, hundreds of turtle eggs and slaughtered wildlife.

SFC chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton said the protected slow loris were seized from a trader in Bintulu town, the turtle eggs in Serikin border adjacent Kalimantan and slaughtered bats and squirrels in Sri Aman.“An Indonesian trader was arrested for selling the turtle eggs at Serikin and was subsequently convicted and jailed for a month.

“We are intensifying our enforcement measures,” he said.

The SFC team in Sarikei is still unable to locate the trader who was spotted by the public selling protected wildlife.

The native market in Sarikei town in central Sarawak has been found to be a venue for selling live slow loris and slaughtered pangolin.

Sarawak Society for Prevention of Animal (SSPCA) received an alert from the public on this, said its president Datin Dona Wee.

“A trader inside the Sarikei Tamu building was found selling live mammals.

“Inside a plastic bag nearby was pangolin meat.

“The trader was heard negotiating the price of these wildlife with customers,” she said.

An alert passer-by managed to take photos of the native trader and the wildlife that was sold at her stall.

Zolkipli had directed his ground enforcement teams in central Sarawak to investigate the matter

“That trader escaped but we are still trying to find her,” he said.

Sarikei is located about 400km south of Miri.

The SFC is working hard to curb the wildlife trade that is still widespread in Sarawak.

Native markets and some petshops are selling these endangered animals caught from the forests and from logging zones and plantations.