On 20th May, the National Court of Papua New Guinea ordered the State to cancel two massive land leases claimed by Malaysian palm oil giant Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK). A total of 38,350 hectares in size, the two large pieces of land provide the indigenous communities in Collingwood Bay with what they need for survival and they are the basis for the locals’ economy.

It is confirmed the Malaysian company has conceded in this legal case and the 38,350ha of forest is safe! It is extremely rare that landowners (‘local communities’) succeed to stop an oil palm project of this size. This victory for the people Collingwood Bay is not only extremely important but also a huge one. Most of the 38,350 ha of land consist of pristine tropical forest containing extremely high levels of biological diversity.

However, KLK claim to have rights over another 5,992 hectares of forest also within Collingwood Bay, of which most is primary forest. The indigenous locals also depend on the forest within the 5,992 ha of Portion 5 State Land as a source of their livelihoods & survival.

KLK is a member of the RSPO and recently a signatory of the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto (SPOM), which declared several commitments including no deforestation in High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas. RSPO Principles & Criteria also prohibits deforestation of primary forests.

Over 80% of forest in Portion 5 State Land is primary forest and High Carbon Stock (HCS) forest.

Please sign and share the petition to tell KLK to pull out from Collingwood Bay.

We earlier announced on our website we would be bringing you update on Jackie the orangutan.

Based on our investigation it was easy to determine that Jackie was indeed used to lure tourist money, for 20 years. Our questions to the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) following the first and only reply to our initial email has gone unanswered. None of the five follow up emails were replied. Among others we asked if the SWD would prosecute those irresponsible parties for exploiting  Jackie, and why did the SWD not take action in saving Jackie much earlier.

Due to other pressing issues and the fact that Jackie has been saved by the Sabah Wildlife Department, FOTO needs to switch attention to other issues involving orangutans in Malaysia, while we are also actively looking to expand.

However, we have asked the SWD to keep us informed on the progress of Jackie and we will contact the SWD for updates if there are none within a considerable time frame.

Here is a press release published by The Star (in July) regarding Jackie, less than 48 hours after we first contacted the SWD to enquire. There was no news regarding Jackie found available before our communication with the Sabah Wildlife Department. FOTO was not approached for our comments.

 

Please sign and share the petition to help the nine abused and exploited elephants at A’Famosa Resort at this link:

Remember also to join the Facebook page created to help the nine elephants

Zoo accused of pressuring TV station to remove video

Aidila Razak | 10:25AM Oct 5, 2013
A zoo operator, accused of mistreating its elephants, had allegedly pressured news broadcaster Astro Awani to retract a story on the matter.

Malaysiakini understands that the owners of A’Famosa Animal World Safari allegedly told Awani to pull down the video as well as an accompanying article from its website or face legal action.

Safari Wonderland Sdn Bhd, which runs the zoo attached to the A’Famosa Resort Hotel in Malacca, also allegedly stressed the A’Famosa group of companies’. standing relationship with the broadcaster involving support for other programmes on Astro.

However, when contacted, Safari Wonderland denied that it had any hand in Awani’s decision to withdraw its report.

“On the speculation that Astro Awani was pressured by the company to remove the article, we categorically deny any such alleged involvement on our part.

“Be that as it may, we are in no position to explain the reason why Astro Awani decided to remove the article and video.

“Perhaps, it is more appropriate for you to direct your queries to Astro Awani,” Safari Wonderland director Lau Joo Kwang said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

When contacted, Awani managing editor Suhaimi Sulaiman declined to comment.

Chained with no food or water

On Aug 25, Awani on its magazine programme ‘In Focus’ featured an investigative report on the plight of elephants kept at the A’Famosa Animal World Safari.

The report, uploaded online by animal welfare NGO Friends of the Orangutan (Foto), showed that when not parading for tourists, the elephants were kept tethered on very short chains in a cemented stall, without access to food or water.

In one section of the report, a mahout appeared to be hitting one of the elephants. The footage, however, was not very clear and was shot in stealth from a distance.
Experts interviewed by Awani said that the A’Famosa elephants look malnourished and were not treated well.

The video and the corresponding article were, however, removed two days after it was uploaded onto the broadcaster’s website.

It is believed that the report was part of a longer series on the issue, but the subsequent parts have since been shelved.

“We can only guess ‘powerful forces at play’ influenced this disappointing outcome,” Friends of the Orangutans (Foto), who had tipped off Awani on the matter, said on its website.

‘Animal welfare our main priority’

Safari Wonderland’s Lau, however, denied Awani’s report and said that the animal welfare is the zoo’s “main priority”.

“We categorically deny any alleged mistreatment of elephants at the zoo/safari park.

“On the allegation made as to the alleged beating of an elephant by a mahout, we would like to state that such an allegation is unfounded and made with the intention to tarnish the good reputation of A’Famosa,” he said.

He added that all zoos are highly regulated and that action would have been taken on A’Famosa Animal World Safari if it truly did mistreat the elephants.

“But that has never happened,” he said, adding that the company will not hesitate to take legal action on quarters who tarnish its reputation.

In an email to Malaysiakini, Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) said a probe is under way.

“Please be informed that an independent investigation team has been established by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

“We are currently not going to respond to any media until the said independent investigation report is released,” Perhilitan officer Loo Kean Seong said on behalf of the director-general.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/243057

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp35tnn9zX0

 

The A’famosa Resort (2 hours south of Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital) is first and foremost a golf and entertainment holiday resort. In the adjoining A’Famosa Safari Wonderland zoo illegally obtained (wild caught in  Indonesia) orangutans have in the past been discovered but the resort was never prosecuted.

This same resort had humiliated its orangutans, a totally protected species, by making them perform tricks, play golf, ride bicycles,  among others. The same orangutans were then hidden behind public view in barren cages, and the zoo was again exposed.

This time resort have been exposed by Friends of the Orangutans for shocking treatment of elephants in their possession. When not made to offer rides and perform in elephant shows, the elephants are chained in a cruel manner for, we believe up to 15 hours a day, with no readily available drinking water and food available. A mahut (elephant trainer/handler) has also been caught on video sadistically hitting an elephant. Pictures available in our Gallery page, and the same pictures are also available in the ‘A’Famosa’s Abused and Exploited Elephants Need Our Help‘ Facebook page created and maintained by FOTO supporters at the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/saveafamosaelephants

 

Malaysian based station Astro Awani premiered ‘Plight of the elephants on parade’ on 20th August 2013. This 25 minute programme exposes the atrocities A’Famosa Resort’s elephants are forced to live through.

To our shock, link to this video was taken down only 48 hours after it went online, as with the article alongside the video. We can only guess ‘powerful forces at play’ influenced this disappointing outcome. The article though can be accessed through this link, while FOTO has uploaded the 25 minute programme here:

The resort management have claimed innocence and the Malaysian wildlife department has shockingly defended the management, read their statements at the link below.

https://www.fotomalaysia.org/?p=1050

We have announced our demands which will be published in our Press Statement which we have sent out on 30th August, it will be posted here and the ‘A’Famosa’s Abused and Exploited Elephants Need Our Help‘ Facebook page.

Action plans for you to take once will be announced here and the page above if we see the wildlife department still refusing to take immediate action once our Press Statement is out in the media. Stay tuned for updates.

Please do support our campaign to help the elephants at A’Famosa Resort, they are depending on us all.

“80 percent of the rainforests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging, finds a comprehensive study that offers the first assessment of the spread of industrial logging and logging roads across areas that were considered some of Earth’s wildest lands less than 30 years ago.”

Click here to read this stunning report on Mongabay’s website.

Jackie is a 22-year old female orangutan who according to the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), “spent most of the last two decades “spoilt” with junk food in Ranau”. In March this year Jackie was transferred to the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park zoo in Kota Kinabalu (KK), Sabah. According to the SWD “She came into Sabah Park’s care since she was two years old after she was found and handed over  by a villager residing adjacent to Kinabalu Park some 20 years ago“. We have not been told why she was not sent to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre instead.

Jackie was exploited in the popular Poring Hot Springs area in Ranau (which is under the jurisdiction of Sabah Parks), approximately 2.5 hours from KK, as a tourist attraction, and her body weight ballooned to an amazing 100kgs.

The staff of the SWD have successfully managed to reduce Jackie’s weight to 85kgs and she has not so far shown any sign of diseases despite years of human contact and a terrible diet. A government paper, ‘The Star’ implies Jackie will be released back into the wild, however it cannot be determined as yet if she can go back to live where an orangutan should.

Updates to come. Below are links we found on the Internet regarding Jackie, with pictures in them. At the bottom is a video of Jackie with tourists.

http://www.mysabah.com/poring/index6.php

http://www.shaolintiger.com/2010/03/05/jackie-the-semi-wild-orangutan-from-kinabalu-park/

 

The Indonesian government wants to clear 1.2 million hectares of protected virgin rainforest on Sumatra island, Indonesia. East Asia Minerals, a Canadian mining company, is one of the major backers of this proposal, which is expected to be approved in only a few weeks time, unless YOU take action NOW.

Help the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) stop this madness.

Sign and share this petition widely.

Follow news about this campaign here. SOCP also URGENTLY need $70,000 in legal fees for this very tough and challenging campaign. Donations can be made on this page.

Thank you for taking action. Please don’t close this page without first sharing it on your online network like Facebook and Twitter. SOCP, the animals and people of Aceh who will be affected by this plan need your help, NOW.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has – Margaret Mead