A tiger belongs in the wild, not on someone’s wall

A glimpse of the Malayan tiger in the wild - where this magnificent national symbol belongs. (Emmanuel Rondeau/WWF-US pic)KUALA LUMPUR: In April 2025, inside a KL courtroom, the skin of a tiger lay crumpled in a clear plastic container. Complete with its head, it had once been displayed in a glass frame on the wall of a luxury condominium.To its alleged owner, the pelt might have been an unusual decoration or a symbol of status.

To conservationists interviewed by Bernama at the time, it represented something far more troubling - the demand that continues to fuel the illegal wildlife trade.As Malaysia marks World Tiger Day today, that image still offers a sobering contrast - the tiger as a symbol of courage and national pride, and the remains of an animal perilously close to disappearing from the country’s forests.Fewer than 150 Malayan tigers are believed to survive in the wild, threatened by habitat loss, dwindling prey and poaching. While much attention is rightly directed towards the hunters and traffickers who kill and move protected wildlife, every illegal transaction begins with someone willing to pay.Buyers may feel removed from the violence because they did not personally set a snare, pull a trigger or skin the animal. But purchasing or possessing a tiger pelt, tooth, claw or other body part keeps the trade alive, providing poachers and criminal networks with a reason to continue hunting.From living animal to status symbolFor centuries, hunting a tiger was regarded in some cultures as a display of bravery.

Its skin or mounted head became proof that someone had conquered a powerful and dangerous animal.Speaking to Bernama at the time, Ecological Association of Malaysia president Dr Ahmad Ismail said the idea of the tiger as a trophy had not entirely disappeared.“Historically, when hunters killed a tiger, they felt proud because they had managed to kill a very dangerous animal,” he said. “But now, we cannot do that because the tiger population is low.”Yet tiger skins and taxidermy mounts continue to be sought and displayed as signs of wealth, power or influence. Other parts are sought for use in traditional remedies, jewellery, charms or spiritual practices.A tiger skin, however, is not simply a dramatic wall hanging; a tooth did not begin as a pendant, nor a claw as an ornament.

Each came from an animal that once moved through a forest, hunted for fo…