Malaysian wildlife activists, concerned for the welfare of tigers captured after several recent attacks on humans, proposed today the setting up of a sanctuary for the endangered national symbol.

The Malaysian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (Mazpa) would soon submit to the government a plan of action aimed at freeing the tigers from their cramped cages in zoos, an official said.

Mazpa committee member Roy Sirimanne, who is preparing the proposal, told AFP the problem was "becoming quite serious".

The three major zoos in peninsula Malaysia - the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur and those in Taiping and Malacca - were seriously over-populated with the native Indo-Chinese Tiger, he said.

"If we capture any more of them, there won't be any more space."

High costs

Sirimanne added that the cost of maintaining the large cats was extremely high and a drain on zoos' resources.

The Malacca Zoo now houses 18 tigers caught in the wild, local media reported. They are being held in small cages because of a lack of space and the fear that they will fight if kept together.

Malacca has received offers from Munich in Germany and Rangoon in Burma to adopt some of the tigers.

Sirimanne said besides coping with over-crowding at zoos, he hoped that putting the tigers in a sanctuary modelled as an eco-tourism park would help conserve and manage the tiger population in the country.

A 1997 survey carried out by the wildlife department estimated there were some 600-650 tigers left in peninsular Malaysia, down by almost 90 percent from 5,000 in the 1950s.

Increase in sighting

Tigers are a protected species in Malaysia, which is one of only seven areas in the world recognised as focal tiger landscapes.

They have been the subject of increased debate recently after the Kelantan chief minister threatened to send in the army to shoot all tigers in an area where they have killed three rubber tappers this year and mauled two others.

The announcement provoked an outcry from conservationists.

"Tigers are facing a really difficult time now, and in Malaysia's case, we can see the very real possibility of extinction unless the government intervenes," said World Wildlife Fund spokesman, Teoh Teik Hoong.

Environment Minister Law Hieng Ding has said that anyone killing the animals without a permit would be prosecuted.

Sirimanne said there was an increase in tiger sightings now compared with 20 years ago, when there were more tigers in the wild, and attributed this to the high level of development in the country.

"There must be a limit to how far the human population should be allowed to expand and encroach" on the tigers' jungle habitat, he said.

The loss of habitat was one of the reasons for tigers killing humans, since their natural prey animals such as the wild boar and deer had disappeared due to rapid development. AFP