IMAGE shows some of the 900 oven-ready owls that were seized with thousands of monitor lizards.  The image was photograph by Chris Shepherd/TRAFFIC

BREAK

According to TRAFFIC, “Over 7,000 live Clouded Monitor Lizards and almost 900 dead owls plus other protected wildlife species have been seized in two raids in Peninsular Malaysia.” The trade in bushmeat on such a large scale presents a significant setback for conservation efforts, and this particular seizure seems to be especially damaging because of the organization taken to prepare the meat and the numbers of species taken. Certainly, large-scale consumption of wildlife anywhere isn’t sustainable, since Nature can’t keep up with the insatiable demand for bushmeat that is emanating from countries such as China. Some of the species CITES listed appendix 1

Bushmeat, in addition to other wildlife contraband, and trafficking problems are the result of a lack of education, information, and knowledge regarding conservation and environmental problems. Other issues such as poverty and war fuel the bushmeat trade too.

The spread of zoonotic diseases through the consumption of bushmeat is a major problem, and diseases such as HIV and the Ebola virus are thought to have spread due to the consumption of bushmeat in addition to urbanization.

Organizations such as TRAFFIC are working hard to gather information and stop the trade in illegal bushmeat. Donate to TRAFFIC here, and read more about the latest seizures here. From TRAFFIC:

On 4 November, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) staff raided a house in Muar, in the state of Johor, and found in a freezer and storage room 796 Barn, 95 Spotted Wood, 14 Buffy Fish, 8 Barred Eagle and 4 Brown Wood Owls, 2 Crested Serpent Eagles, 51 live Clouded Monitor Lizards, 4 live juvenile Wild Pigs, plus parts of one or more Wild Pig, Malayan Porcupine, Reticulated Python, Malayan Pangolin, Sun Bear and Greater Mouse Deer.

A local man was arrested and remanded in custody for three days, but pleaded not guilty and was released on bail of MYR19,000 (USD5,300).

Information obtained during the raid led to a second raid on a storage facility in Segamat, Johor, on 7 November 2008, when 7,093 live Clouded Monitor Lizards were seized, but no arrests made.

“The number of owls and monitor lizards seized is truly staggering,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer for TRAFFIC’s Southeast Asia office.

“This is the first time we know of where ‘ready-prepared’ owls have been seized in Malaysia, and it may mark the start of a new trend in wild meat from the region. We will be monitoring developments closely.”

All the animals seized are believed to have originated in Malaysia and were probably bound for China, to be sold in wild meat restaurants.

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