KUCHING, Malaysia - Bau district in the Kuching division is a hot spot in the state's wildlife trade.

The sale of protected wildlife, particularly turtle eggs, is rampant, state Director of Forests and Controller of Wildlife Datuk Len Talif Salleh said yesterday.

Turtles are a totally protected species in Sarawak but the trade in their eggs is rampant in the border town of Serkin.

Frequent visitors to Serikin would not find the eggs openly displayed.

Sellers would normally approach a potential buyer quietly and ask quietly if they were looking for turtle eggs.

Len Talif said that this year alone, four people, known to be habitual offenders, have been jailed for possessing and selling turtle eggs.

Three of them are Indonesians.

Speaking after witnessing the presentation of letters of appointment to 333 honorary wildlife rangers from Kuching, Bau, Sri Aman and Betong, Len Talif said charging people caught in the wildlife trade would be done only if they could not be educated and were persistent offenders.

He said officers from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation were currently conducting surveillance on the "jungle restaurants" reportedly serving exotic meat dishes.

"We will act if they are found to be serving meat of protected wildlife," he said.

The restaurants dot the road from Bau to Serikin.

The state's chief wildlife warden, Wilfred Stephen Landong, blamed consumers from the city for fuelling the trade in wildlife and the mushrooming of restaurants serving exotic meat.

"The people from the city are the biggest culprits. They are the ones with the money to buy and who are fuelling the demand," he said.

Another wildlife hot spot is Selangau, near Sibu, where the trade in wild boar meat is rampant.

The wild boar had been placed on the protection list as it is being hunted to near extinction.

However, the law exempts people in rural areas who hunt the wild boar for their own consumption.