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(September 17, 2023) KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to strengthen measures to protect the Malayan tiger, as stated in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) mid-term review on Sept 11, is good news, but worries over proposals for mining in protected areas remain, says the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). WCS Malaysia programme country director Mark Rayan Darmaraj pointed to the National Minerals Policy, which acts as a guide for mining activities in permanent forest reserves and environmentally sensitive areas. He said...

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(August 12, 2023) WHILE the Malayan tiger population in some areas such as Endau-Rompin in Johor is showing signs of stabilising after dipping in previous years, their overall numbers in the wild continue to hang in the balance. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Programme country director Dr Mark Rayan Darmaraj says it is hard to determine how the animal is faring at the national level without having assessed the latest figures from all sites where the species is found. 

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(August 06, 2023) PETALING JAYA: A conservation group is urging wildlife authorities to focus on increasing prey species for the tigers in the wild, especially in the Endau Rompin region which has seen an escalation of cattle predation by tigers. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Programme country director Dr Mark Rayan Darmaraj said there was a fear that the African swine fever (ASF) had continued to decimate the population of wild pigs and could even cause a localised extinction of the animals. ...

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(July 04, 2023) In yet another unfortunate casualty in the human-tiger conflict, a tiger was shot dead by a farmer last week after it attacked the farmer's cows. Dr. Mark Rayan Darmaraj, the Country Director at the Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Program spoke to us about what could have been done differently here. He also talked about strategies that can help mitigate the human-wildlife conflict and promote coexistence.

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(September 20, 2022) The mystery of Tigress T13 - that's how one local newspaper in India described the case of notorious wildlife smuggler, Nepalese Lodu Dime, who was arrested in 2018 after years on the run.

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(September 15, 2022) Perak intends to apply the elephant alarm fence system used in the state of Johor to resolve the issue of disturbances by wild animals in the state. However, according to the Executive Councillor for Health, Science, Environment and Green Technology, Mohd Akmal Kamaruddin, his side is also considering using similar technology from Thailand. “Regarding the alarm system that uses technology from Indonesia, I have included this matter in the Exco meeting and the results of the visit to ...

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(July 04, 2022) KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should fast track setting up the Wildlife Crime Bureau under the police to tackle wildlife poaching and trafficking. The recent arrest of a Malaysian suspect in Thailand showed that illicit wildlife trading was still rampant in the country. Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme country director Dr Mark Rayan Darmaraj said such a unit could be a game-changer for intelligence-gathering and swift prosecution. "I believe this unit, if established with ...

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(April 06, 2022) When he was a boy, scientist Dr Mark Rayan Darmaraj used to read books about tigers. In the books, the tigers, he recalls, are often portrayed as the "king of the jungle". "This for me - then and even now - means that tigers are the protectors of the forest and all the beings in it." he says.

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(March 07, 2022) In 2019, Malaysian conservationist Mark Rayan Darmaraj warned that the critically endangered Malayan tiger would be extinct by about this year if efforts to save it were not intensified. But while the pandemic has offered this subspecies – one of five remaining in the world – a brief respite from poaching, they are still only clinging on. A national survey concluded in 2020 estimated that there remain fewer than 150 wild tigers in Malaysia’s forests, where 3,000 once ro...

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(January 31, 2022) KUCHING: Better intelligence as well as effective laws and enforcement are needed to protect pangolins from trafficking, says a conservationist. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Program Country Director Dr Mark Rayan Darmaraj said recent cases in Sarawak, which saw heavy fines imposed on offenders for illegally possessing pangolins and their scales, were a positive sign of successful prosecution and the state's commitment to tackling threats to wildlife.

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