KUALA LUMPUR: Animal rights activists and advocates in Malaysia are concerned over a recent report that revealed the country's Johor coastline is becoming an entry point for the trade of exotic animals from Indonesia. According to a Bernama news agency report on Friday, the coastline is becoming the transit point in the illegal trade of exotic animals to Asian countries, notably China. “This is simply wrong and the police need to get their act together and start cracking down on the illegal trade,” animal rights activist and organizer Usmanah Tarak told Bikyamasr.com. “If the government knows this is happening, I am wondering why they are not doing more to end it to protect animals and our borders,” she added. Bernama said that a number of crime syndicates are using the long, largely unprotected Johor coastline to smuggle in animals for export to China and other Asian countries. According to a source involved in the illegal trade investigations, the Johor coastline's proximity to Indonesia makes it a “main gateway for the smuggling of these animals” from Indonesia. “Johor is now the main transit for syndicates smuggling exotic animals from Indonesia,” said the source who declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the information provided to Bernama in a report published on Friday. The source said, anteaters were among the highly sought after animals, commanding RM300 per kilogram for its meat. Due to the high demand, the syndicates were currently doubling their efforts to smuggle them in from Indonesia, added the source.
