MIRI: The police are hot on the trail of three men who hunted down a relatively tame hornbill at Piasau Garden, defying even an honorary wildlife ranger, the conservation and the state wildlife protection law.
Senadin assemblyman Datuk Lee Kim Shin said the police were working closely with Sarawak Forestry Corporation on the case, and the book would be thrown at the culprits whose brazen act horrified onlookers and nature lovers.
“The police are taking action. There is no excuse of people not to know that hornbills are protected species,” he said when met yesterday after officiating at the opening of Curtin University’s Petroleum Week.
He said that Miri police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong had briefed him on the case following a report made soon after the (shocking) incident.
“I have also spoken to Petronas vice-president who was here recently and Shell MD and chairman on a few occasions and both have indicated their corporate social responsibility commitment to develop and fund the nature park.”
Lee also said he would take up the proposal to have Piasau Camp turned into a park to the state government and wildlife authorities.
“Piasau Camp will make an excellent heritage and nature park and Miri needs more parks and green areas.
“There is no other place in this country where you find hornbills in their natural environment, and not in cages, in the middle of a city. Hornbills are indeed gems for tourists,” he said.