MIRI – A man in Bintulu district in northern Sarawak has surrendered a 190kg sambar deer that he had been holding captive in the compound of his house.
The man gave up the wildlife to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation unit in Bintulu town two days ago.
"The deer was rescued from a location in Taman Kemena Raya (housing estate) after the owner said he wants to surrender it to SFC.
"The rescued deer has been sent to the Taman Tumbina sanctuary," an SFC official told The Vibes today after the deer was safely relocated.
There are still cases of people keeping wildlife throughout Sarawak.
Under the SFC laws, anyone who captures wildlife in Sarawak can be arrested.
On January 27, the Sarawak Marine Police and SFC teams arrested a man believed to be trapping rare wildlife in the Bintulu-Miri region in northern Sarawak.
An array of rare birds that included parrots and parakeets and rare tortoises found kept in cages were rescued from the man.
Bintulu Marine Police chief Asst Comm Shamsul Kassim had told reporters that the two agencies had carried out a raid at a house on Km6 of the Bintulu-Miri highway.
They found a 68-year-old man with the protected wildlife in cages in his house compound.
"Acting on information received, teams from the two agencies carried out a raid.
"Among the wildlife found were parrots, parakeets, rare tortoises and giant banning.
"These wild animals are worth RM130,000 in the illegal wildlife trading markets," he said.
ACP Shamsul said the rescued wildlife have been relocated to the SFC wildlife sanctuary.
Anyone found capturing, keeping, selling, buying, hunting and killing protected wildlife can be fined up to RM50,000 and jailed up to five years upon conviction.
Those with information on these wildlife abuses can call the SFC hotlines below. – The Vibes, April 16, 2021
- SFC Kuching: 019-8859996
- SFC Sibu: 019-8883569
- SFC Bintulu: 019-833 2737
- SFC Miri: 019-829 0994.