Outrageously light punishment for tiger poacher

22 year old Ang Chun Tan was fined only $1,857 after killing one of Kelantan's last 100 tigers, one of only three species of animals accorded full protection under Malaysian law. Malaysian tigers, which are on the brink of extinction, are sought after for their meat, fur, and penises, and the dead tiger would have sold for much more than $1900 on the black market. Ang was brought to "justice" after the 331 pound carcass was found in his home, a matter on which he pled ignorance. "I got home from a wedding and the next thing I knew, the tiger was in my refrigerator," Tan told the court before his father paid the fine.

It's hard enough to find a poacher, considering that the animals being protected roam freely through thousands of square miles of territory. If you find a poacher, it's even more difficult to catch them, because you're often dealing with an armed group that's already shown a flagrant disregard for the law and the preservation of life. But on those rare occasions when those odds are beaten and a poacher is actually brought before a court, there has to be a reasonable punishment handed down. This case has actually given an incentive to go hunt the other 99 remaining Malaysian tigers: any way you tote up the numbers, wiping out the last of these cats makes good business sense. The news article has no statement from the judge, but I can't imagine what his take on it was...

To read the full story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051020/sc_afp/malaysiawildlifetiger;_ylt=AsGl0P5snlmogoekHV8hN9IPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
For more information on Tigers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger

Tiger preservation folks:
http://www.savethetigerfund.org/

National Geographic sounds a hopeful note on the big picture for tigers:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/1122_021122_tigers.html