Tigers in trouble as Malaysian big cat numbers dwindle

For two years, Malaysian conservationists followed a tigress named “Bulan” as she raised four cubs. Then a fatal road accident made him another statistic in the country’s declining population.

Malaysia’s national animal is in trouble.

Poaching, loss of food and shrinking habitat have reduced the population from 3,000 individuals in the 1950s to fewer than 150 individuals in the wild today, according to official estimates.

The government said last month it was stepping up efforts to tackle wildlife crime, introducing AI-based camera traps and methods to detect contraband at airports.

But experts and officials admit resources fall far short of what is needed to protect the country’s famous feline, which is listed as critically endangered.

Bulan (Moon in Malay) was killed on the East-West Highway, a thoroughfare known for incidents of animal trafficking.

“We were devastated when we lost her,” said Tiger Protection Society of Malaysia (RIMAU) president Lara Ariffin.

“In addition, it was massacred after being crushed,” Ariffin told AFP, showing graphic images of the animal’s carcass.

“They took his canines, they took his claws. To me, it was like desecrating a dead person.”

The plight of the apex predator’s population recently made local headlines after a dead tiger was found in the back of a car in southern Johor state, sparking public outrage.

Three poachers were later sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $59,000, but experts say the trade remains attractive.

“Serious money”

A single Malaysian tiger carcass can cost around $60,000 on the black market, according to the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

“The skin alone can cost around RM100,000 ($24,000), while a tiger penis has been valued at RM20,000 ($5,000),” the department’s national director-general Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim told the New Straits Times newspaper last month.

Tiger bones cost about $1,186 per kilo, while teeth, claws and even whiskers, used in acupuncture, cost about $118 each, Kadir said.

The ministry did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.

Even animals that escape poachers can be harmed by traps made from cheap plastic, rope or wire cable.

Camera traps have spotted injured or even limbless animals.

Research shows Malaysia is fueling demand for tiger parts in Vietnam and further afield in China, with cross-border poaching syndicates using drug, arms and human trafficking routes to move their goods.

In the first six months of 2025, 201 wildlife trafficking arrests were recorded and illegal goods worth $30.5 million seized, Malaysia’s top domestic security and public order official told local media.

“These figures show that poaching is no longer a small-scale crime. It is organized, cross-border and financed by large sums of money,” said Azmi Abu Kassim.

“No overnight success”

The Malaysian government admits that it has limited human, financial and material resources to address this challenge, although efforts are being made to resolve the problem.

Joint operations by Malaysian police and wildlife services have resulted in hundreds of arrests and seizures worth millions of dollars, officials said.

And community ranger programs run by NGOs like RIMAU employ more than 1,000 local community members.

“Malaysia has made great progress in the fight against illegal poaching,” said Ariffin, who produced a documentary called “The Last Tigers of Malaysia”.

“We are moving in the right direction, but success is not guaranteed overnight.”

The local chapter of the Wildlife Conservation Society, based in New York, estimates that at least 5,000 rangers are needed to properly patrol Malaysian tiger habitats.

“The first line of defense is not there, which means we don’t have enough rangers on the front line to protect our wildlife from poachers,” WCS national director Mark Rayan Darmaraj told AFP.

“Poachers are still able to operate simply because they outnumber law enforcement, and once they’re inside the jungle, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said.

This is a view echoed by other NGOs working on conservation.

“The problem is not a lack of commitment, but a lack of capacity,” WWF-Malaysia told AFP.

“The next ten years will decide whether we can revive the roar of the Malaysian tiger.”

© 2025 AFP