Poachers who instal and own snares will face more severe penalties when the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) is reviewed, says Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director-general Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim.

According to Kadir, Act 716 would be amended to ensure that more severe penalties are imposed on poachers who use snares to kill or capture wildlife for profit.

"This is a proposal to improve the legal provisions and to increase and enforce the punishments for the offenders involved.

"The use of snares is a serious crime that can cause injuries and deaths of various species of wildlife while some are permanently disabled," he said when met recently by Bernama.

At present, individuals convicted of using snares can be fined not less than RM50,000 and not more than RM100,000 and imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years.

Kadir (photo) said the punishments are seen as not comparable with the deaths of wildlife that was increasingly threatened by extinction due to the greed of hunters.

"We recommend that amendments to this act impose a longer jail term and a heavier penalty," he said.

However, the draft proposal to amend the act was still at the proposal level and would be presented to the Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar to be discussed before it is proposed in Parliament.

Kadir said that from January to July this year, 26 wildlife species, such as tapir, sun bear, serow, sambar deer and deer were found dead after being caught in snares.

He said as many as 653 wire and nylon snares and bird nets were destroyed since the beginning of the year while 79 forest sites in the country were identified as the poachers’ area of focus.

- Bernama