A long-tailed macaque looking for an easy meal at Taman Persekutuan Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur. — Photos: CHAN TAK KONG and LOW LAY PHON/The Star
RESORTING to poisons and other illegal means to deal with wildlife seems to be a common practice but sometimes with tragic, unintended consequences.
Two brothers aged two and three died after eating keropok (crackers) containing rat poison in Kampung Padang Ubi in Kulim, Kedah on July 7. The poison was meant for monkeys.
Dr Saravanakumar says culling of wildlife should be conducted by professionals.Also last month, a teenage boy fell ill after eating biscuits believed to be laced with poison at an orchard in Kemaman, Terengganu.
While the law does allow farmers and land owners to trap or kill wildlife to protect crops, this should be done as a last resort, said Dr Saravanakumar Supramaniam Pillai.
Section 54 (1) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 clearly states this can only be done after first using all reasonable efforts to frighten away the wildlife.
The former Veterinary Services Department (DVS) senior deputy director also said culling wildlife should be conducted by professionals.
“If at all culling has to be done, it should be in a calculated manner to not harm the surroundings and ecosystem.
“It should not reach a point where farm owners take matters into their own hands out of ignorance.
“The law should not be read wrongly without any consideration of consequences,” he said.
While non-lethal actions are better at tackling this issue, people often do not know what that means, he said.
A weather-damaged notice board put up by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) at the Bukit Jalil Recreational park discouraging visitors from feeding monkeys.
“They are also unaware of the methods and devices they can use,” he added.
Dr Saravanakumar also said the farmer in Kedah should not have sought the easy way out by leaving poisonous substances within reach.
“He was presumably annoyed with the monkeys ruining his plants as the complaints made to the relevant authorities may not have been resolved, so he took the law into his own hands and put the poisonous bait.
“The farmer has no right to poison monkeys; he has to approach relevant authorities to get the job done. The sad outcome is that human lives were lost.
“By right, the police, after looking at the seriousness of the situation, should work with DVS to take a role in enforcing a law with higher deterrence, which will lead to better awareness,” said Dr Saravanakumar, who is now Humane Society International senior advisor in farm animal welfare and protection.
Poison sources
People know what poison to use when dealing with the nuisance posed by animals like dogs, pigeons, monkeys and elephants, said former Zoo Negara assistant director Datuk Dr Vellayan Subramaniam,
“But where do the farmers obtain this poison? There needs to be an investigation with the relevant departments to find out what type of poison was used, and stop importing the poison into the country.
“If we don’t do this, more animals will die,” said Dr Vellayan, who is also a pharmacy lecturer at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campus in Puncak Alam, Kuala Selangor, Selangor.
Dr Vellayan said the impact of poisoning animals would continue to have grave outcomes if no proper investigation is done.
Lorry driver Satiya Sakhthivelu volunteers once a month to deal with rubbish thrown by humans and made worse by monkeys along Jalan 5/66 in Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya.
While serving in Zoo Negara during his nearly three-decade tenure, Dr Vellayan said he investigated barbiturate poisoning involving tigers and lions in the 1980s.
At the time, he was the Zoo’s hospital, zoology and veterinary services head.
“I was a clinician and I wanted to find out what happened.
“I went beyond my duty to check with different chemistry labs, one of which was in Perak, to reanalyse the first blood samples that produced negative results for poisoning.
“After further investigations, it tested positive for barbiturate poisoning,” he said, adding the Poisons Act 1952 regulates the import, possession, manufacture, compounding, storage, transportation, sale and use of poisons under the Pharmaceutical Services Programme in the Health Ministry.
