WITH the Kelantan state government dismissing claims that excessive logging was not the cause of tigers fleeing its habitat, netizens took to social media to mock PAS leaders.
“Lebai xkan percaya. Diaorg maha mengetahui,” said user Joshua Indin.
(Clergymen will not believe this. These guys are all knowing)
Echoing Indin’s sarcasm, user Diana ConfimentCare added:
(According to our environment minister, logging is not what causing tigers to encroach into villages…perhaps the latter set their Waze wrongly)
Netizen Kamaruzaman Mat Rani retorted:
(Day by day these political elites keep coming up with bizarre statements. Highly educated yet give answers like Primary 3 pupils)
Yesterday, Kelantan deputy menteri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah dismissed views that tigers were increasingly encroaching into Orang Asli villages due to logging in the state.
He added that it was not the first time something like that had happened and the authorities needed to investigate the matter.
“This is only one case. If it happens often, then we may assume it was due to logging. Just because one person got mauled to death, we cannot pin all the blame on logging activity,” he was reported saying.
Amar said this following a case where an Orang Asli man got mauled to death by a tiger on Jan 8. The tiger was later shot dead by the Kelantan Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).
However, Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA) yesterday shot back at the Kelantan state government for trivialising the damaging effects logging is causing to wildlife.
“Tigers don’t usually disturb humans, we do. Now with the mammal starving as its got habitat destroyed, naturally it roams away to seek food and shelter.
“Who is to be blamed now? It should be the government for allowing excessive logging to take place, destroying many pristine forests,” Astro Awani reported its president Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil as saying.
Only international pressure will work on our Gov’t
On that note, user Zuilkifli Shafie said that the Government would only take concrete action to save the Malayan Tigers only after getting pressured by the international community.
(As long as we encroach tigers’ habitat in the name of development and to meet supply for timber, it will be difficult for us to rehabilitate them. Just wait until the international community criticise us, only then action will be taken. Until then, no action will be taken)
Netizen Rinna Kinoku Sari remarked:
(Our wildlife is losing their habitat until even macaques are encroaching city areas, becoming city monkeys. Many of the forests, with trees producing their food, gets chopped away for housing projects. There was once a whole jungle area was cleared to build a LRT station, and I saw a piglet running for its life, only to die after falling into a drain) – Jan 13, 2022.
