About 7,000 monitor lizards saved from the cooking pot

Published: Wednesday November 12, 2008 MYT 8:58:00 PM
About 7,000 monitor lizards saved from the cooking pot
By ZANI SALLEH

KUALA LUMPUR: More than RM3mil worth of live and dead animals were seized when the Wildlife and National Parks Department raided two locations in Johor last week.
Among the animals were more than 7,000 clouded monitor lizards, 1,000 owls, pangolins, crested serpent eagles, pythons, mousedeer, Malayan porcupine, wild pigs and bear parts.
A 49-year-old man was charged in a magistrate’s court in Tangkak on Nov 7 and is out on a RM19,000 bail.
The black market value of the wildlife seized in Muar and Segamat, is believed to be more than RM3mil.
Director-general Datuk Abd Rasid Samsudin said that this was the second time the man was detained for a similar offence.
He was fined RM7,500 in 2004 for possessing 182 pangolins and 1.3kg of pangolin scales.
“The live and dead animal parts can be distributed for consumption as exotic dishes in restaurants, “ he told a press conference on Wednesday.
He said the dishes, cooked with herbs were widely popular among diners, especially men, and were often priced at RM300 per bowl.
To meet the demand, the protected animals are highly paid for by restaurants in Vietnam, Hong Kong and China.
Mohd Rasid said eight members of the Wildlife Crime Unit seized 13 species of protected wild animals at the man’s house during the first raid which was conducted in Muar on Nov 4 at about 8am.
The dead animals were in several freezers while the live animals were found in the backyard.
The team raided another location in Segamat three days later and found 7,093 live clouded monitor lizards kept in a holding centre.
“The monitor lizards, weighing approximately 35,000kg, can fetch between RM50 and RM80 per kilo in black market trade,” he said. The case is due for mention on Feb 20 next year.