GEORGE TOWN: A coalition of non-governmental organisations has warned the state that the proposed tiger park will have negative implications.
The Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (Mycat), which comprises the Malaysian Nature Society, Traffic Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme and World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia, said building zoos and wildlife parks always sounded simple and exciting.
"Malaysia already has more than 40 zoos and monitoring them is a huge task for the authorities, who are also holding the responsibility of protecting wildlife in the wild," it said in a statement yesterday.
Mycat stated that some Malaysian zoos had been linked to illegal wildlife trafficking, citing the discovery of four smuggled gorillas at the Taiping Zoo a few years ago.
It also cited the Saleng Zoo in Johor, which was hauled up many times for illegally acquiring endangered species.
Mycat said tiger parks such as the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park and the Guilin Tiger Park in China were actually farms that bred thousands of tigers. They were heavily implicated in the killing and sale of their tigers.
"Thailand's Sri Racha Tiger Park Zoo has also been implicated in illegal wildlife trade."
It said tiger parks such as Corbett, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Kaziranga and Way Kambas were protected areas in their respective countries.
"It is like our own Taman Negara. These are preserved habitats for tigers and other naturally-occurring wildlife, not private tiger zoos."
Mycat cautioned that feeding one animal would cost about RM30,000 a year.
"What happens if Penang, or the private company executing this project, runs out of money to maintain the tigers?
"Will the state then suggest that the reasonable thing to do would be to trade some of its tigers to keep the park functioning, just as the tiger farms in China are attempting to do?"
Mycat raised another concern: The source of the tigers.
"How many tigers will this park aim to house? Will they be bred, and if so, for what purpose?"
Mycat was puzzled why the state would want to embark on a "difficult, potentially controversial and expensive project like this when it had natural wonders like the Penang State Park, beaches, culture, food and its Unesco World Heritage Status to draw from".
"There have been cases where a country's tourism income has been severely affected because of the response to an ill-thought of action," it said, citing the boycott of Thailand's Tiger Temple following investigations by Care For The Wild, an animal welfare and conservation charity.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said that the state planned to set up a tiger park on a 40ha plot of land owned by the Penang Island Municipal Council.
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