TAIPING, April 12 — Malayan tigers will go extinct in the next five to 10 years if no drastic action is taken to address its population decline, said Taiping Zoo and Night Safari director Dr Kevin Lazarus.

He said, therefore, breeding conservation and research on Malayan Tigers are needed to prevent the extinction of the endangered species

"We have programmes with Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and zoos that have Malayan tigers for captive breeding programmes to increase the population of the animal.

"In this process, we will find a suitable partner and if the tigers need to be transferred, they will be transferred while other breeds will be moved here,” he said.

Kevin was speaking to reporters after a visit with the media in conjunction with the first birthday celebration of Malayan tiger cubs at the zoo here.

Kevin said Perhilitan also conducted tiger conservation programmes in the natural environment due to many threats in the forests such as poaching, biodiversity and loss of food.

"The breeding programme in collaboration with all zoos in the country that have Malayan tigers was carried out continuously for long-term breeding of the tigers.

"It is estimated there are less than 200 Malayan tigers left in the wild which is an alarming stage based on the National Tiger Survey, carried out in 2016-2020,” he added.

On April 12 last year, an 11-year-old tigress named ‘Baby’ gave birth to three cubs on Apr 12, last year and have been named Puntum (male), Teja and Bayu (both females). This is the fourth birth of a Malayan tiger at the zoo.

‘Baby’ was also born at Taiping Zo following successful breeding in 2009.

The tiger species is classified as critically endangered animals by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2015 and is protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act (Act 716).’ — Bernama