I refer to the letter Save the tigers, save the forests . There are millions of Malaysians who support the writers’ plea and I hope it will not fall on deaf ears. But the sad truth is the Malaysian tiger is doomed and will be extinct in a matter of years when the small number of the breed left in the jungle and in captivity live out their natural lives.

Try imagining a jungle without the tiger. The idea of doubling the number of tigers such as the National Tiger Plan is great but let’s hope it is not mere spin because you cannot increase tiger numbers when the rate of loss exceeds the rate of increase. Poaching and loss of habitat remain the two most significant threats. Ineffective policing and punishment of poachers will not stop the lucrative trade in tiger body parts.

The number of 600 tigers left in the Malaysian rainforests is unreliable and the same number has been bandied around for a long time. The fact is it is difficult if not impossible to keep track of tiger numbers because poaching can eliminate a tiger after you have counted it. Whether you photograph it with special equipment or some other method, tigers do not enjoy round-the-clock security.

When Indira Gandhi was the prime minister of India she initiated ‘Project Tiger’ where vast tracts of forest reserves were given to protect the Indian tigers. But years later and not too long ago the whistle-blowers told of dwindling instead of increasing numbers of Indian tigers. And the reason? You guessed it – poaching and often in collusion with corrupt enforcers.

It is a lesson for Malaysia because what is on paper and in practice can be worlds apart.

According to a documentary on the failed Indian Tiger Project, the tiger pelts ended in Tibet where it became a status symbol as part of the fashion for Tibetan men. Apparently the Dalai Lama had to intervene to stop the popularity of the tiger pelts which were then destroyed in a big bonfire.

Tigers once were common in then Malaya. In the foreword of my novel Tiger King of the Golden Jungle , I quoted from Isabella Bird, a famous travel writer who passed through the country and wrote ‘I wanted to go out by moonlight but Mr Ferney said it was not safe, because of tigers, and even the Malays don’t go out after nightfall.’ The truth is that almost all of the country’s wildlife species and many plants species are threatened by extinction. Even the popular tongkat ali is in danger and some countries ban any product with this ingredient.

The reason other endangered wildlife do not receive as much publicity as the tiger is obvious. But the tiger serves as a significant symbol of their common plight and not only of the rainforests but also of its human inhabitants, the Orang Asli, who deserve perhaps even more consideration because humans are ultimately more important than anything else. It is great that the Johor Sultan has reinforced the country’s laws against wildlife trading but these poachers do not care about bans.

If they did the problem would not have arisen. Wildlife poaching is not a local problem but like human trafficking is trans-national in nature and unless there is a coordinated effort to attack the supply chain and also the demand factor in the illegal trade in wildlife equation, no amount of threats and words will achieve anything.

What is needed is more than grand plans and decrees but on the ground support and strong legislation and a coordinated effort to protect the country’s dwindling wildlife. There are voluntary wildlife and conservation groups which are active but lack the resources to be effective and can only skim the surface of the problem.

The ban on wildlife hunting in Johore will be ineffective if the other states are not part of the strategy. Since tigers do not understand state and national boundaries and a tiger’s territory can cover hundreds of square kilometers, and in a night a tiger can cover an incredible distance, there has to be a wholesale national ban across borders.

I have touched a live tiger, been in close proximity to tigers that have killed humans, heard its awesome roars, felt its hot breath, and seen its legendary stare. But how many Malaysians in the future will even see a live tiger when they can’t even be found in a zoo? Until Malaysians feel the urgency and the time is now to save the country’s rainforests and wildlife there is no future for the tigers.

I hope more Malaysians will read my novel and get a sense of the plight of the rainforests and their human and wildlife inhabitants. My share of the proceeds from the sale of the book has been earmarked for wildlife conservation and to help the poor. I am sure there are other equally good books and articles on the subject worthy of our consideration that will motivate us all to do something.

At the launch of my novel by Environment and Natural Resources Minister Douglas Umbah on October 9, 2009, I had promised to discuss a national plan to deal with the problem of poaching with the wildlife department. This is in the pipeline and I hope more Malaysians will take it upon themselves to be protectors of their country’s natural treasures and initiate moves and get behind their nature and environmental groups and the wildlife departments in dealing with the crisis.

I hope also that an independent rainforest and wildlife impact study with submissions by NGOs be made to assess its viability. Development is wrong when it destroys the nation’s tigers and wildlife and their habitats and leaves future generations with easily replaceable bitumen, steel and concrete but irreplaceable wildlife and their habitats. Surely there is a better way.