In response to yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Task Force (MyTTF) to tackle the issue, Rajesh said the government had failed to deal with the root cause – deforestation.

“The government has responded by speaking about increasing forest cover by the year 2040. How will this help the tigers who are on the cusp of going extinct?

“It is deforestation that has to stop immediately. Malaysia has to embrace the concept of reforestation, of which, unfortunately, there seems to be little understanding,” he said.

He said the federal and state governments must ensure that all the parties that have engaged in extensive logging must reforest the areas that were cleared.

“All reforestation must be done under the guidance of experts, who must ensure a balance between native flora and quick-growing trees.

“Failing to do so would result in the tigers going extinct, in which case we will have no one but ourselves to blame.”

He added that the estimate of 150 Malayan tigers remaining in the country’s forests was misleading, as of that number, only a small percentage were females capable of gestation to full term.

On MyTTF, Rajesh, who is also involved in environmental rights, said it was nothing but an “exercise in futility”.

He also called for the wildlife and national parks department (Perhilitan) to be censured and held accountable for the killing of wildlife.

“The department was founded specifically for the protection of wildlife but has been seen killing them instead of employing the capture and release technique.

“Perhilitan must be censured and made to explain to the public why it is killing wildlife when it should be protecting it.”

He was alluding to an incident last week, when a team from Kelantan Perhilitan hunted down and killed a tiger that was believed to have mauled an Orang Asli in Kampung Sau near Pos Bihai, Gua Musang.