TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2001

Malaysia draws plans to prevent theft of ‘mother of all orchids'

KUALA LUMPUR (dpa) - Security officers in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island are being trained to identify one of the world's rarest orchids to prevent it from being smuggled out for sale to orchid lovers abroad, a newspaper report said Monday.

Police officers, customs officials and airport guards at border checkpoints in Sarawak were being trained by the state's wildlife department about the All-Slipper orchid (All Paphiopedilum), which grows only in Sarawak's Mulu national park region, the New Straits Times daily said.

Botanists have dubbed the rare orchid, whose export is banned from Sarawak, as the "mother of all orchids".

"International orchid lovers and collectors are prepared to pay a ridiculously high price for them," said department spokesman Ramli Ahmad.

So far, no one has been arrested for smuggling the rare orchid. However, scientists from the United States and Japan have been caught in the past two years trying to smuggle out rare plant, insect and fish specimens from Sarawak.

The scientists, who were allowed into Sarawak after they applied for permission to conduct research and expeditions, were fined and released.

 

 

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