Man nabbed for keeping two wildcats in his house

MIRI: A man was arrested after he was found to be in possession of two wildcats in his house in Lundu, Sarawak.

The man, a suspected wildlife trader, was nabbed on Saturday (Jan 25) following a joint enforcement raid by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and General Operations Force.

SFC chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton said the to wildcats were found in a small enclosure inside the man's house.

"He is suspected of being involved in auctioning of wildlife for money.

"We believe the man had planned to auction off the animals for as high as RM50,000.

"We are investigating this case as a crime against wildlife involving trapping, capturing, selling and auctioning and buying of wildlife," Zolkipli said on Sunday (Jan 26).

The man, in his 40s, has been handed over to police.

Zolkipli said SFC is still investigating if the man was directly involved in trapping the animals or if he had bought them from poachers.

He thanked the public for tipping off authorities to identify and arrest wildlife abusers and traders.

Members of the public with information on such cases can alert the SFC via its social media websites.