World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia’s conservation efforts are beginning to pay off as four Malayan tigers including three cubs were recently spotted on camera.
Camera traps set up early this year and recently retrieved by its field team, have revealed rare images of the four Malayan tigers.
In the series of images, a female tiger is seen crossing from right to left of the camera’s view, followed closely by three cubs, estimated to be between one-and-a-half to two-years-old.
A second set of images captured a month later also revealed a female tiger and three cubs, which were identified as the same family.
The images were captured on camera traps funded by Maybank as part of its “Strengthening Tiger Conservation in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex” programme with WWF-Malaysia.
It is estimated there are less than 200 Malayan tigers left in the wild.
“This news comes as a timely message of hope for the species and for our continued tiger conservation efforts,” said WWF-Malaysia chief executive officer Sophia Lim.
“Much of the funding we receive goes towards supporting the work of our anti-poaching and wildlife monitoring teams on the ground.
“They cover great distances on foot, scouring the forest for snares and setting up camera traps.”
WWF-Malaysia, in partnership with Maybank, recently concluded a month-long Malayan tiger-themed campaign.
This was in conjunction with Global Tiger Day 2020 – Roar for Life – with the clarion call for public support and donations for tiger conservation.
According to a recent WWF report, Silence of the Snares: Southeast Asia’s Snaring Crisis, an estimated 12 million snares are set every year throughout protected areas in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, while an average of 53,000 snares was removed annually from 11 protected areas in five Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia.
One of Malaysia’s priority tiger landscapes, Belum-Temengor in Perak, saw a 50 per cent decline in tiger numbers from 2009 to 2018 which was likely due to widespread snaring.
