900 oven-ready owls & 7,000 live lizards seized in Malaysia

Almost 900 “oven-ready” plucked owls and other wildlife were seized during raids in Malaysia. ©Chris R Shepherd / TRAFFIC

On 4 November, staff from the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks raided a house in the state of Johor, and found in a freezer and storage room 796 Barn owls, 95 Spotted Wood owls, Buffy Fish owls, 8 Barred Eagle owls and 4 Brown Wood Owl, 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.

No one held for the crimes
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).

7,093 monitor lizards - CITES listed appendix 1
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.

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

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

All are protected to some degree under Malaysian national legislation, and most are listed in CITES (the Convention on Illegal Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), with Clouded Monitor Lizard and Sun Bear in Appendix I, which prohibits international trade, whilst most other species, including all the owls, listed in Appendix II, which restricts such trade.

"Malaysia is home to a vast array of amazing wildlife," said Shepherd. "However, illegal hunting and trade poses a threat to Malaysia's natural diversity. TRAFFIC applauds the actions taken by the authorities, and urges the public to report cases of illegal hunting and trade. TRAFFIC also encourages countries where these cargoes are bound to be vigilant to prevent the illegal import of wildlife from Malaysia and elsewhere."

Malaysia is a member of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), a partnership that seeks to end illegal cross-border wildlife trade in the region.