Anyone reading the January edition of the prestigious National Geographic will not fail to be deeply saddened and worried by the enormous scale of  wildlife trafficking - both legal and blatantly illegal - perpetuated in and  transited thorough Malaysia.

The Malaysian government clearly needs to decide if it wishes to  retain its popular and lucrative wildlife dependant eco-tourism industry employing  many thousands, or permit a relative few unscrupulous wildlife traders and officials to tarnish the country's image irrevocably.

Malaysia has undeniably become the entry and exit point for millions of animals, some legally, many not, but all on their way to a certain and often tortuous death.

The government needs quickly to decide if it wants Malaysia to be seen as a haven for wildlife - or hell. It cannot be both.

National Geographic readers number 40 million worldwide, many of whom will now have seen Malaysia labelled, correctly as it happens, as  a safe, even protected haven, for the most prolific of wildlife traders in the world.

This begs the question, just how can this man operate with impunity?

The writer is chief executive, Nature Alert .