here's the news
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Fri...cle/local1_htmlMalaysians 'fund' illegal exotic wildlife trade06 Oct 2006
Manveet Kaur and Su Aziz
KUALA LUMPUR: Tortoises from India and snakes and lizards from Africa and Latin America are finding their way into more Malaysian homes.
And as the demand for exotic pets grows, so too the list of prized wildlife.
However, many people do not realise that a number of these animals are on the endangered list.
While some are imported, most of these are captured from the wild and smuggled into the country.
The Star tortoise (Geochelone elegans), for example, is taken from the wild in India, where it is protected, and brought in by smugglers.
This tortoise is among the many exotic pets that are being sold in the Klang Valley.
We visited one pet shop in Mutiara Damansara and asked the owner about Star tortoises.
Since he thought we were potential customers, he admitted that the tortoises were smuggled into Malaysia. He also did not deny that most of his tortoises and terrapins were obtained through illegal means.
He said he had no problem with the authorities when it came to selling species such as the Star tortoise, Radiated tortoise and the Spider tortoise, all of which are prohibited from being taken out of their country of origin.
"It's okay for people to rear the tortoises as pets here, but if they want to send it to their friends outside the country, I wouldn't recommend it," he added.
He said young people liked tortoises as pets because they were cute. The Star tortoise can fetch up to RM120 for a six-cm juvenile, while its highly sought-after cousin the Radiated tortoise can cost as much as RM1,800.
Snakes and lizards from Africa, South America and other parts of Asia are also available. The prices for these range from RM1,200 to RM5,000.
There are also lizards such as desert geckos, miniature monitors and skinks.
Their presence shows that the trade in such animals continues to flourish although the shop owner said it was getting harder to get fresh stocks due to frequent crackdowns against smugglers.
Following a tip-off, we also checked out a pet shop at Taman Megah in Petaling Jaya where we found a large number of exotic reptiles and mammals.
This particular outlet also has the largest selection of snakes and lizards and is a popular haunt for pet lovers. We asked the sales assistant for Star tortoises and he replied that they didn't have any.
"We only have the Radiated and Spider tortoises left. If you want one, the big ones cost RM1,800 and I can give you a special discount if you are interested."
He added that many of the customers who wanted tortoises as pets were from Singapore.
"Such animals are prohibited from being imported in Singapore. So, they get them here and smuggle them across."
About two weeks ago, Indian Customs officers arrested a Malaysian man attempting to smuggle 1,460 Indian Star tortoises out of Chennai.
It was said to be the biggest illegal consignment of the endangered tortoises they had ever seen.
"Due to uncontrolled capture and trade, many of these species are becoming endangered," says Chris R. Shepherd, Traffic Southeast Asia Senior Programme Officer.
"Unfortunately, there are loopholes in the legislation that hinder the authorities from preventing this wrongful exotic pets trade."
In 2004, Traffic Southeast Asia released the report Demand Driven: The Trade of Indian Star Tortoises, Geochelone elegans in Peninsular Malaysia, which highlighted Malaysia as a major hub in the international illegal trade of this species.
The study's survey of 31 pet stores in Kuala Lumpur found more than three-quarters of them sold the tortoises. The reptiles are often dehydrated, bound with tape and stuffed into stockings to limit movement when smuggled into the country. Many do not survive the journey.
Shepherd says Customs officers are the ones who can actually make a huge difference in preventing wildlife contraband from being smuggled in as they are the ones at the entry and exit points.
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), the government agency managing the country's wildlife, has a licensing system under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 to regulate the import, export and trade in local wild species.
"We are aware that violations of the law exist," agrees Misliah Mohamad Basir, the law and enforcement director at Perhilitan.
"So we conduct random spot checks at pet shops. If the owners cannot produce the trader's reference number to verify the origin of their pets, we will confiscate the animals and send them to our Rescue Centre at Malacca Zoo," she says.
"And if the quantity of species present exceeds the number written in the logbook, they will be fined."
Of the 32 registered pet shops in Kuala Lumpur, 20 were raided last year and 15 of them were in breach of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
The most common species confiscated were the reticulated python, leopard cat, hill myna, iguana, greater green leafbird, sulfur-crested cockatoo, red whiskered bulbul, oriental white eyes, blue-crowned hanging parrot and yellow-crowned bulbul.
The fine for selling protected species without a licence is RM5,000 and/or two years in jail.
Misliah says it was difficult to name all the protected species that were illegally sold in the country because one could never foresee what endangered animals would be brought in.
"Trends change all the time - one month it will be the Star tortoise, six months later it can be komodo dragons."
To report a suspected wildlife law violation, contact:
- Law and Enforcement Division, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Km10 Jalan Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-90752872
Email: pakp@wildlife.gov.my
Website:
http://www.wildlife.gov.my- Traffic South-East Asia
Unit 9-3A, 3rd Floor, Jalan SS23/11, Taman SEA, 47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-78803940/Fax: 03-78820171
Email: tsea@po.jaring.my
Website:
http://www.traffic.org 
Oct 6 2006, 04:30 PM
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RM85/pc. Well, the thing now is to get them start eating and live happily. Hope i can do it. Cheers.
Congrats! And all the best of luck to you! You can do it! Any shots of its bottom part? Tak pernah tengok lagi 
Mungkin we can try report those shops that are bad? 
Its going to raya so money need to be channelled in 2 ways. 
So Eujax, Uzairi, Titan and others, please inform me if you come across any ok? Havent seen any so far...only pictures. Where are they available? Anyone? Hope can get hold of them. 
pening!!
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