SHAH ALAM - It has always been interesting to me to take note of the great attention paid to the panda’s on loan from China, with the birth of every one of the three panda cubs (so far) being celebrated with great fanfare and intense media coverage. Not only that, even the birthdays of these panda’s are celebrated as well.
As an advocate for good environmental policies and practices and as an animal lover myself, I can understand the fascination with these panda’s among the Malaysian public. Afterall malaysia is just one of a handful of countries hosting these animals and they have been fruitful. This bodes well for Malaysia-China bilateral ties, according to the boasts of some of our politicians.
While it is not possible to fault the public, I do wish to take the government to task, not only our current one but all previous ones since the panda’s were brought to Malaysia in 2014. Why are we "championing” foreign animals when several of our own namely the Malayan tiger, the tapir and orang utan are facing extinction.
Let us now talk about money, because in the end "cash is king” as some have said. The panda’s will cost Malaysia RM151 million over the ten-years that they have been contracted to be housed in Malaysia (2014-2024), the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said in 2016. I wonder if that figure has grown and if so by how much.
All this money and effort has indeed borne results. RM 151 million (or RM15.1 million per annum) has produced three panda cubs.
During that time we have seen the number of Malayan Tigers fall from an estimated 250 in 2014 to less than 150 (some cite as few as 80 to 120) in 2022. This is a net loss however you look at it and the trend is only indicating a further drop in numbers mainly due to deforestation and poaching. It would be interesting to know how much was spent by successive governments to reverse this trend.
The tapir is fairing a little better but numbers have been dwindling over the years.Habitat fragmentation in peninsular Malaysia caused displacement of 142 Malayan tapirs between 2006 and 2010; some were rescued and relocated, 15 of them were roadkills according to a tapir conservation report from 2012.
Others such as the iconic orang utan, hornbill, Proboscis Monkey, Sunda Pangolin and Borneo pygmy elephant are not faring much better. I also note that while it is easy to obtain numbers of how many pandas are in Malaysia, it seems considerably more difficult to trace the exact number of endangered Malaysian wildlife. Are we just not interested in knowing because the numbers might be too frightening?
Surely this is worth it. Afterall with the pandas, come better ties with China and this has led to the constructions of megaprojects like the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL). Well when you consider the environmental damage caused by this project and the severe fragmentation of wildlife habitats, not to mention the burden on Malaysians, are we really heading down the right path?
It is not impossible that we may face the permanent loss of these animals: Iman, the last Sumatran Rhino in Malaysia died in 2019. I can't help but wonder if this could have been prevented if all the money being spent on the pandas would have saved Iman or for that matter any of our other animals.
As it is, the RM36mil under Budget 2023 allocation set aside under Budget 2023 for wildlife conservation is insufficient and how much of that really reaches the animals in need. Steven Sim tweeted that the pandas would receive a further RM4.45 million versus RM 1.25 million for the Johor elephant sanctuary.
While there is no use crying over what we have lost, should we continue making the same mistake? The panda’s tenancy in Malaysia expires in 2024 and we must really take a long look in the mirror as we ask ourselves if this contract should be extended?
Are we willing to tell our future generations that we "had” to let our tigers, tapirs and orang utans die off because it was more "profitable” to feed and house pandas, a non-native species that can only exist in Malaysia in a special air-conditioned enclosure?
This will be a key moment for whichever government is in power after the GE15. Are you going to carry on making the same mistakes?
Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil is the immediate past President of the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia (PEKA). The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.