Response To Challenges In Curbing Selected Wildlife Poaching During Covid-19 Lockdown

Abstract

The global COVID-19 outbreak started in Wuhan, China (Lu et al., 2020; WHO, 2020) and the movement control order (MCO) (PMO, 2020a) is showing certain impacts on wildlife conservation (Abdullah et al., 2020; Amat et al., 2020; Goldman, 2020; Ten et al., 2021). In thisletter to the editor, we highlight our concerns on selected species conservation issues and suggest ways for the readiness and preparedness of future disasters that are potentially impacting endangered wildlife species. The wildlife authorities in Sabah had approved the use of surveillance cameras since 2017. These surveillance cameras are deployed at several hotspots in DaMaI Rainforest Complex (c. 1.0 million hectares) in Sabah, primarily to monitorencroachment or other illegal activities, and to complement the efforts to monitor wildlifemovements and distributions in the forest reserves. The cameras utilised cellular networks and are able to transmit triggered images within 30 seconds to dedicated contacts (either email or SMS to handphones). The exact locations are notrevealed to protect the habitats and endangered species. Based on images from selected remote surveillance cameras during MCO, some endangered species were easily recordedutilising the forest edges for foraging or moving between forests (Figure 1). Consequently, this situation exposed selected endangered species of wildlife to be exploited by poachers for the lucrative bush-meat trade. During the MCO period, while it was observed that illegal activities were significantly reduced, there were incidents of poaching. Images from surveillance cameras provided crucial information on movements of poachers that eventually led to several arrests by the authorities in DaMaI Rainforest Complex (Astroawani1, Astroawani2 & Star)