www.BandarPuncakAlam.com

Sumber : New Straits Times, tiada tarikh

KUALA LUMPUR - A fence, humps and lower speed limit could prevent more tapirs from being knocked down on the Shah Alam-Puncak Alam highway. All it takes is a request and funding from the State Government, according to Public Works Department director-general Tan Sri Zaini Omar. Since last year, four tapirs have been knocked down on the 13km highway that cuts through a forested area. The deaths of the animals came to light in a New Straits Times report last week. At present the speed limit is 90km per hour and the only warning motorists have of the presence of tapirs in the area are four small blue signboards. Zaini said the speed limit could be reduced to 40km or 50km per hour if the State requested it. If this was insufficient, humps could be placed along the road, he said.

Zaini said a fence could also be constructed along the two-lane highway to prevent tapirs from straying into the road. It could be a temporary safeguard while the Selangor Wildlife Department worked to trap tapirs and relocate them, he added. On the possibility of constructing a flyover which would allow tapirs to cross unharmed underneath, he said a four-kilometre stretch would cost RM160 million. Zaini said the recommended measures could have been put in place earlier if the PWD had been informed. He said it was up to the State to make a request to the State PWD and provide funding for the project. The road was opened to traffic in February last year. It was constructed by a private company and handed over to the State Government. In March last year, a tapir was knocked down on the road near the site of a proposed Universiti Teknologi Mara campus. Another was knocked down in June, one in July and the fourth in February this year. Two tapirs were trapped in the area and have been placed in the Malacca Zoo.

Following news reports, the Wildlife Department announced that the trapped tapirs and others to be caught in future would be part of the country's first tapir captive breeding programme. The tapir is a totally protected animal in Malaysia. It is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which means it faces the threat of extinction. It is also listed as "vulnerable" in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List.