Kitingan proposes 'tagal' system to protect wild boar population in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: A tagal system may be introduced to protect the wild boar population in Sabah's forests, says Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan (pic).

The state Agriculture and Food Industry Minister had expressed concern over decreasing sightings of wild boar in their natural habitat, indicating a significant decline in numbers.

“Right now, sightings of wild boar in the wild are rare. They are not even at places where you used to see them,” said Kitingan, adding that the species was heavily hunted in the past to meet market demand.

Wild boar hunting is common among native communities and has also become commercially popular with some food operators offering smoked wild boar meat, known locally as Sinalau Bakas.

Derived from the Dusun language, tagal, meaning prohibition, has long been practised by the indigenous people of Sabah for generations.

The system was initially aimed at regulating fishing in rivers to protect the fish populations. It works by dividing the river into three coloured zones - green, yellow and red.

Under the system, villagers are allowed to fish at any time in green zone areas, while seasonal fishing is allowed in yellow zones. Fishing is prohibited in red zones, as these stretches are meant for fish breeding.

Kitingan proposed applying the tagal system to aid wild boar reproduction, and said that the forests could also be zoned into the three colours.

The Deputy Chief Minister also said they were also looking at imposing stricter penalties to deter illegal and excessive hunting.

“There is a provision in the law to protect the animal which carries penalties, but we also intend to incorporate cultural measures, such as tagal, or imposing ‘sogit’ (traditional compensation) on the offenders,” he said.

In another development, KItingan said the ministry is also considering lifting the ban on wild boar hunting, noting that there have been no new African Swine Fever (ASF) cases reported in Sabah recently.

“We still don’t see sinalau bakas in Rompon (a popular stop along the interior Tambunan-Keningau stretch that sells smoked wild boar meat), meaning they still adhere to the ban.

“The ban will be lifted soon, but only after we are satisfied that the wild boar population has fully recovered,” he said.

The state Veterinary Services Departments (DVS) instituted the ban in February 2021 after an ASF outbreak was detected among domestic and commercial farms in Sabah in November and December 2020.

A large number of wild boar were killed by the epidemic but conservationists noted that the hunting restriction had helped the recovery of wild boar.