Long known as a spot that is used as a stop for smugglers Malaysia also is now gaining a little of the spot light for the food products they have a demand for. TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring organization has recently seen a spike in the demand for wildlife products at the exotic food market. Included on this list of exotic foods are crocodile penis, tiger eyes, and pangolin meat. Kanitha Krishnasamy the manager from TRAFFIC's Southeast Asia branch reported that demand for exotic foods from wildlife has surpassed those demands of traditional medicine and decorative objects like bracelets and figurines.
Where Do The Goods Come From?
TRAFFIC believes that some of the items come from traffickers already operating in Malaysia. Also, they believe some of the items may be smuggled in from elsewhere in the region from the boats that land within the ports. Smugglers are known to change how the move their products making it hard to catch them in the act or to know how and when the items are being transported. Previously, they have been known to smuggle products and live animals in shipping crates, sacks, or tins that are falsely labeled with things such as soybeans or textiles. Malaysia's Wildlife and National Parks Department representative Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim reported to the New Straits Times that restaurants can get permits to sell the products of protected animals if they have received the goods from places the government deem legitimate. However, many restaurants are buying their products from poachers and smugglers that get their information about food trends on social media sites.
What Is On The Menu In Malaysia
As of right now some of the trending wildlife products include sun bears, leaf monkeys and clouded leopards. Also, certain lizards make a place on the menu along with serow which are goat-antelopes. Some restaurants even serve endangered species such as Asian giant soft shelled turtles. Certain restaurants are also known to serve the favorite food of tigers which are sambar deer and muntjac also known as barking deer.
However, these items do not come cheap. Crocodile penis can cost up to fifty-eight dollars for a portion of it. You can expect to pay up to one hundred and seventy dollars for tiger eyes and pangolin meat can sell for up to three hundred dollars a kilogram. A bowl of tiger soup is known to sell for three hundred and twenty dollars and a entire clouded leopard will cost you five thousand seven hundred dollars.
What Is The Punishment If Caught With Smuggled Products?
Malaysia's Wildlife Protection Act of 2010 can bring a maximum penalty of ten thousand dollars pr a two year prison sentence. Recently, one man was fined seven thousand dollars for having ten pythons, three giant tortoises, nine leatherback turtles and twenty-six frogs illegally in his possession. In December a raid on a pig abattoir in Wakaf Tapai in Marang in northern Malaysia came up with twelve thousand dollars worth of endangered animal products. This brings the total up to thirteen instead of the six from the year before.
A Better Ability To Monitor Wildlife Products Is Needed
Kanitha stated that the wildlife protect act is a good start, however it is only useful in the peninsula and does not reach farther into Malaysia. Allowing free trade and sales of wildlife product among those lesser monitored self-governing states. She feels that the laws in Sabah and Sarawak need to be revamped because currently people can have up to five kilograms of endangered animal meat. Currently they are even allowed to sell them at markets or roadside stalls. Kadir states that many people get away with breaking the wildlife protection act due to technicalities and the legal system needs to make it harder for that to happen.