Posted on 06 September
2010
Selangor, Malaysia:
A six month jail sentence for one of the
world’s noted wildlife trafficker is welcome
but the offender should also have all licences
for possession of totally protected and
protected wildlife revoked, WWF-Malaysia
said today.
The comments come after
the Malaysia Sessions Court sentenced Keng
Liang “Anson” Wong, owner of two wildlife
establishments in Penang, to six months
jail today, after he was caught last August
with listed boa constrictors in his luggage
at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
“On the other hand,
the fine of merely RM190 000 ($US 60,000)
appears to be a slap on the wrist in view
of the fact that Wong had 95 snakes in his
possession and that the aggregate maximum
fine that could be imposed was RM 1 million
($US 320,000),” said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius
Sharma, Executive Director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia.
“The fine comes up a
little short in relation to the offence.”
Anson Wong, known as
“the Lizard King” and a “notorious” wildlife
trafficker, was sentenced in the US to six
years jail and fined $60,000 in 2001 after
admitting to wildlife trafficking crimes.
However, his counsel
in the current case told the court Anson
was a first time offender.
“ WWF-Malaysia also
urges the Ministry to now revoke ALL of
Anson Wong’s current licenses to trade in
wildlife, including his two wildlife establishments
in Penang as well as those linked to his
family members,” Dato’ Sharma said.
This would be in line
with Section 17 of Malaysia’s International
Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008 under
which Wong was charged, where the Management
Authority may cancel permits if the holder
of such permits has been convicted under
this Act.
According to Dato’ Sharma,
it is justified to revoke any such licenses
granted to his family members as there is
a strong need to pre-empt the risk of illegal
wildlife trade being furthered under the
guise of legality and still very much under
Wong’s control.
+ More
Critically endangered
whales flee Russian oil, gas boom
Posted on 07 September
2010
Gland, Switzerland - Russian oil and gas
company Rosneft is conducting oil and gas
exploration work that may have caused the
critically endangered western gray whale
to flee its main feeding ground.
Tests and offshore installment
of equipment by Rosneft for a major seismic
survey began in late August, despite repeated
calls from 12 governments, NGOs, scientists
and the public to postpone the survey because
of potential risks to the whales.
Rosneft started preparations
for the survey last month near Sakhalin
Island even though a small number of western
gray whales mothers and calves were feeding
in the area. Only an estimated 130 western
North Pacific grey whales are left in the
world, with around 30 breeding females.
Seismic surveys are
done by blasting the water with acoustic
noise to detect oil and gas deposits under
the ocean floor.
Observers from WWF and
other NGOs began monitoring Rosneft’s activities
and the whales in mid-July. It appears that
as of Aug. 20, only weeks after Rosneft’s
activities started, whales feeding in the
area had already been affected.
Before those activities
began, observers registered 10 to 15 of
the whales feeding in the area. Now whales
have only been seen migrating across the
area – not feeding.
“This is a critical
problem as the whales have only a short
time in which to consume enough food to
last them through the year when they migrate
to their breeding and calving grounds,”
said Wendy Elliott, WWF’s whale expert.
The company also has
twice conducted seismic surveys at night,
which is in violation of international standards,
and even Rosnefts’ own guidelines.
On August 23, WWF-Russia
issued a letter of concern to Russian environmental
authorities, requesting an immediate stop
to Rosneft’s testing.
As part of a WWF initiative,
nearly 20,000 people have sent Rosneft emails
requesting that the surveys be postponed.
However, Rosneft continues to shut out public
opposition to its actions with some WWF
members reporting that their emails to Rosneft's
outgoing President Sergei Bogdanchikov had
been blocked.
Scientists from the
Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP),
a group of eminent whale scientists, have
also repeatedly asked the company to postpone
the surveys until the whales have left the
area. A letter sent from 12 governments
to the Russian government asking them to
make Rosneft postpone the survey also went
unheeded.
"Rosneft is irresponsibly
insisting on conducting this survey when
they could easily postpone the survey until
next year and hold it before the whales
arrive," said Aleksey Knizhnikov, Oil
& Gas Environmental Policy officer,
WWF Russia. "Rosneft may be ignoring
public outcry but their negligent behavior
will not be forgotten, and they will have
to be held responsible for any harm that
comes to the whales as a result of these
surveys."
Postponing the surveys
would also enable Rosneft to develop the
precautionary monitoring and mitigation
measures that are essential to minimize
the impact of the seismic survey on the
whales. Monitoring and mitigation measures
have already been developed by the WGWAP,
and are being used by another company in
the same area.
WWF and other NGOs have
dozens of observers and boats on Sakhalin
Island this year and will be monitoring
the test and how it affects the feeding
whales.
In addition, WWF is
planning this week to approach Rosneft's
new president, who started today, about
postponing the seismic surveys.
