JUNGLE BATTLES GIVE WILD BEASTS RESPITE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23022, 12 August 1949, Page 2

JUNGLE BATTLES GIVE WILD BEASTS RESPITE

(By Lionel Hudson. N.Z.P. A.-Reuter Correspondent in Singapore SINGAPORE. : With men hunting men in .countries 'stretching from Tonkin clown to Timor, the vast jungles in between have become much safer for the wild animals. The apes, tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses and other game in most of South-East Asia’s evergreen forests arc getting a new deal. A Dutch official in Singapore said that the game laws in Indonesia are not being properly policed in some parts and there may be wanton shooting of wild animals on the fringes of the jungle. Elephant herds caught destroying crops have been shot at recklessly where previously a permit was needed before the leader alone could be killed but in the jungle hinterland .game is safe from guns and traps. Concerned with the post-war onslaught on wild animal life to restock the world's zoos, officials in Malaya, British Borneo and Sarawak are strictly enforcing the game laws aimed at conservation of indigenous animals and birds.

Singapore Clearing House

.'.The Government in Singapore, clearing-house in South-East Asia for wild cargoes; is co-operating with authorities in Indonesia, Sarawak and British Borneo by banning the import of animals that are not covered shy ' special permits. Protected orang outangs and gibbons were freely smuggled into Singapore by the crews of '•'Chinese junks during the war and irn'mediately afterwards.-but customs men ;say. that this trade has been cut down ’ drastically. - Thailand is the main source in South-East Asia today for jungle animals for export, but there has been a drain on elephants during tho -'last few years that the Government is contemplating a ban on their capture unless they are intended for public zoos. Meanwhile, in Singapore the cages of the animal dealers arc practically •empty except for monkeys. Zoological 'collectors tell you that wild animals iar? still big business—when you can . get ’em alive. They have hundreds of ‘ orders for a variety of stock which they Cannot meet. Common monkeys, , which outnumber humans in this part vof the world anyway, are another matter. They are not protected and thousands are shipped away to laboratories -overseas every year-

Monkeys for United States

One Singapore dealer says, he has sent 10,000 monkeys to the United States in the last two years for infantile paralysis and other medical research. Only Java-type and Rhesus .monkeys are in demand because their blood composition is considered to be nearest to man’s. Most of the trapping is done where monkeys are destroying food crops. The dealer has standing . orders for 5000 monkeys a year. One oij Singapore’s leading wild animal agents, Herbert Do Souza, who has been at the game for 30 years, says '■that many zoos want new stock but few of them can afford to pay the ruling high prices. Malaya elephants are fetching up to £6OO sterling in Singapore, Malayan tigers up to £3OO. and tigers from Thailand up to £SOO. These prices are as much as five and seven times more than before the war. ; Trappers who previously were given the equivalent of a few shillings each for Java monkeys now receive £2 sterling. Mr De Souza said that trappfers are scarce, not only because of the bandit danger in the jungles but because they can earn better pay on rubber estates. • Anthropoid Apes Disappearing Anthropoid apes are becoming increasingly rare in Borneo, Sarawak and Indonesia, according to Mr. M. W. F. Tweedie, Director of Raffles Museum. Singapore- (These are the tailless orang outangs and gibbons which are so sought after by zoo keepers and scientists). The rhinoceros is vanishing, too, but Mr. Tweedie said that an ancient Chinese superstition, not the dealers, is the main reason. Many Chinese still believe that a scrape off a rhinoceros horn will cure almost anything. As a result many thonsands of rhinoceroses have been killed for their horns. The one-horned Asiatic rhinoceros is believed to be extinct in Malaya and may be totally extinct, says Mr. Tweedie. The two-horned ' variety of this lumbering relative of the horse is still found in decreasing numbers in Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo. On the other hand, tigers are reported to be multiplying fast in the jungles. Bandit ambushes have prevented hunters from keeping them down. The number of pigs has increased notably during the last 10 Vears. Pigs are staple diet for tigers and experts say that better feeding is resulting in bigger and more frequent litters. When a tiger is trapped, animal dealers in Malaya have to bid for it against the Chinese who value tiger meat for its “medicinal” qualities.