NATURAL Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the government is committed to intensifying conservation efforts to protect Malayan tigers, now estimated at less than 150 throughout the country.
“There is good progress when there are community rangers in their habitats to combat poachers. This is our ongoing effort to restore as many wildlife corridors as possible in the central peninsular area, which is a place for tigers to roam,” he said.
He said a positive impact was the increase in the number of community rangers from 1,000 to 2,000 people consisting of armed forces veterans, police, Orang Asli and the local community this year.
He said the shrinking Malayan Tiger habitat is also a challenge because it increases conflict and creates problems for the country’s iconic species.
“Sometimes it involves feeding problems. The animals that should be prey for these tigers are also decreasing, such as wild boar, sambar deer… that also causes problems. The tigers will leave the forest area because there is not enough food in the forest,” he said to reporters during World Tiger Day 2024 at Taman Metropolitan Kepong today, Bernama reported.
To increase the tiger population, WWF-Malaysia and Maybank have jointly worked on their Strengthening Tiger Conservation in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex project since 2016.
Main photo credit: Malay Mail
