Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is amazed as to how a private breeder is allowed to keep close to100 endangered species without the knowledge of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

In allowing such a move, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks is seen as encouraging private breeders and animal establishments to import endangered species into the country for breeding purposes with the justification that this will help to remove reproductive pressure on the wild populations.

SAM questions whether such a move will truly ease the pressure on the wild populations as records of re-introduction into the wild of captive-bred species by zoos and private establishments in Malaysia have yet to be successful in Malaysia.

Besides, due to the continuous loss of forests, endangered species would have no suitable habitats to be released back into here.

Being the responsible body for overseeing the country's biodiversity conservation efforts, the Wildlife Department should be responsible for monitoring the activities of breeders and all animal facilities and not get involved in breeding programmes with private breeders.

This does not augur well for the Department given its responsibility as the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites) management authority in Malaysia. Furthermore SAM is perplexed over the issuance of special permits with the date of permission granted unknown and number of species covered by the permit unrecorded.

Clearly something is not right and the Department needs to be more transparent. SAM advices the responsible authorities to refer to Cites Resolution Conf. 10.16 - Specimens of animal species bred in captivity and Cites Resolution Conf. 12.10 - Guidelines for a procedure to register and monitor operations that breed in Appendix I 'Animal species for commercial purposes'.

In Resolution Conf. 12.10, it is stated that, '... the first and major responsibility for approving captive-breeding operations under Article VII, paragraph 4, shall rest with the management authority of each party, in consultation with the scientific authority of that party'.

Such a case did not happen as Malaysia's Cites scientific authority - which is the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment - did not have any knowledge of such a captive-breeding operation by that private breeder.

Allowing such activities to go unrecorded will only encourage trade in endangered, totally protected and Cites I species to flourish in Malaysia. Perhaps this could explain the presence of the orang-utan and endangered birds from Indonesia in our resorts and bird parks.

There is need to ascertain how they made their way here when they are under Cites I listing. Bearing this in mind, the relevant authorities should also take note of Decision 13.20 that was made during the recent 13th Conference of Parties for Cites, whereby the Cites Standing Committee had been directed to:

a) conduct a review of trade in Appendix-I plant and animal species, through the United Nations Environmental Planning (Unep) agency and the World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC). The review shall take into account all exports, re-exports and imports of Appendix-I specimens, including the species' names, the source and purpose codes, existing exemptions and all other relevant information for the last five years.

b) consider the Unep-WCMC report and draft recommendations, if necessary, based on the analysis of Appendix-I trade, at its 54th meeting and present these recommendations for consideration at the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties for Cites.

Therefore, the Malaysian authorities should get to the bottom of such Appendix-I captive breeding facilities before Malaysia is accused of not abiding by Cites, and face a possible embarrassment again as what had happened with the Taiping Four gorilla case.

It is hoped that the Ministry will look into how a private breeder is allowed to keep such animals as well as how bird parks and resorts easily obtain licences for endangered and Cites I species.

The writer is president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia.