In light of mounting complaints by the Orang Asli community being terrorised by wild tigers due to logging and deforestation, Kelantan State Forestry Department director Abdul Khalim Abu Samah has given a startling explanation for it all.
During a press conference held at the Relai Forest Reserve, Gua Musang, Abdul Khalim claimed that logging was actually beneficial for the tiger population, reported MalaysiaKini.
When new plants grow, animals such as mousedeer will come and ease the process for tigers to hunt for food.
“This makes it easier for tigers to hunt their prey as they have difficulty doing so in forest reserves with big trees,” he said.
‘Don’t be a laughingstock’
In response to Abdul Khalim’s bizarre claim, Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia (Peka) president Sharif Sabrina Syed Akil said that his remarks were “irresponsible” and advised him to stop issuing any statements or risk becoming a laughingstock.
She also refuted his claim that Kelantan had complied with the National Land Council’s annual felling quota and never exceeded logging rations.
Kelantan’s certification for sustainable logging was revoked by the Malaysian Timber Certification Council in March 2016 after it overstepped the logging quota.
“This goes to show clearly that Kelantan cannot be trusted in statements they issue when it comes to defending the state’s logging practices,” she said.
Netizens were also outraged by Abdul Khalim statement and wasted no time in mocking him on social media.
One sarcastically suggested ‘bring[ing] the tigers into big cities and be house cats’.
Another wrote, “HAHAHAHAHA it’s almost like reading a statement from a kid at kindergarten!”
Another simply wrote: “I don’t know what to say…” We neither.
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Cover Images via Malaysiakini
Editor: Sarah Yeoh
