JP\/19\/PRIMATE<\/p>\n
Semarang, outlet for the sale of orangutans on Java island<\/p>\n
Bambang M and Suherdjoko
\nContributors
\nSemarang, Central Java<\/p>\n
Though the government has put orangutans (pongo pygmaeus) on its
\nlist of protected animals, many people still hunt and trade the
\nprimate.<\/p>\n
Go to the Karimata bird market in Semarang, the capital of
\nCentral Java. The market is known as the main center for the
\nillegal trade in orangutans, which are shipped from Kalimantan to
\nTanjung Emas harbor in Semarang.<\/p>\n
After they arrive in Semarang, the orangutans are either sold
\nto locals or sent to other cities in Java and abroad. An
\norangutan is usually obtainable for several hundred thousand
\nrupiah in Indonesia, but overseas they can sell for hundreds of
\nmillions of rupiah.<\/p>\n
A survey by The Gibbon Foundation found that Semarang ranks
\nthird as a center for the smuggling of protected animals,
\nfollowing Jakarta and Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Semarang resident Harjanto Halim bought an orangutan in early
\n2003. He was walking through Karimata when a young orangutan
\njumped toward him asked to be carried.<\/p>\n
\"The animal refused to be separated from me,\" said Halim, a
\nlecturer at a university in Semarang. Out of pity, he bought the
\norangutan for Rp 2 million (US$233).<\/p>\n
After taking care of the animal, which he named Fani, for
\nseveral months, Halim handed it over to the Conservation and
\nNatural Resources Center (BKSDA) in Central Java.<\/p>\n
A staff member at the center, Kasiyanto, received the
\norangutan, who was later taken to the Jogja Animal Rescue Center
\n(PPSJ).<\/p>\n
When Halim and his wife took Fani to the BKSDA, they told the
\nofficers there that protected animals were sold at the Karimata
\nmarket. However, there was no response to this tip.<\/p>\n
A number of protected animals such as Javan eagles (Spizaetus
\nbartelsi) and gibbons (Symphalangus syndactylus) are still openly
\nsold at the market.<\/p>\n
In an effort to stop the illegal trade of protected animals,
\nthe BKSDA teamed up with the PPSJ to confiscate the animals.<\/p>\n
One of their targets was Rosyid, one of the animal vendors at
\nKarimata. Ferry Anggriawan of PPSJ accused Rosyid not only of
\nselling orangutans locally but also of smuggling them to Bangkok.<\/p>\n
A raid took place on Sept. 11, 2003. The BKSDA, PPSJ and some
\n40 policemen from the Central Java Police sped to Rosyid's house
\non Jl. Imam Bonjol in Pethek, not far from the Tanjung Emas port.<\/p>\n
The joint team hoped to confiscate 12 orangutans from Rosyid's
\nhouse. They had received information that these animals would be
\nsmuggled to Bangkok.<\/p>\n
When the team arrived, Rosyid was out. They also failed to
\nfind any orangutans. Rosyid's wife denied that her husband sold
\norangutans.<\/p>\n
\"Find the proof first. Don't just accuse my husband,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The local police heard that the orangutans had been taken
\noverland to Surabaya. The police attempted to intercept the
\nanimals but found nothing.<\/p>\n
\"Perhaps the animals are still hidden somewhere in Semarang,\"
\nsaid Sugihartono, the director of the PPSJ.<\/p>\n
\"When we arrived I got a glimpse of Rosyid driving away with a
\nyoung orangutan,\" Anggriawan claimed.<\/p>\n
Although Rosyid is still at large, the team confiscated an
\nadult male orangutan and dozens of other protected animals from
\nhis kiosk in the bird market. The team also seized an adult
\nfemale orangutan from Edi, another animal vendor.<\/p>\n
Strangely, the Central Java branch of the BKSDA said it was
\nnot aware that Semarang, particularly the Karimata bird market,
\nhad become a center for the orangutan trade.<\/p>\n
forgotten that a few months earlier Halim, when handing over
\nFani, had tipped him off about it.<\/p>\n
Is it true that the BKSDA was ignorant about the illegal
\norangutan trade?<\/p>\n
\"I reported this to my superiors but they did nothing in
\nresponse,\" said a forest ranger who asked to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n
Indeed, it is the job of the BKSDA to monitor the bird market.
\nThe center, however, has not taken any measure because, as the
\nforest ranger put it, \"There are a lot of thugs there.\"<\/p>\n
The bird market is indeed tightly guarded. You cannot take
\npictures of the animals there. There was a notice on a tree in
\nfront of Rosyid's kiosk that read: \"You cannot take any
\nphotographs without the owner's permission. Be polite and we will
\nrespect you.\"<\/p>\n
Today, Rosyid, Edi and two other traders are being legally
\nprocessed. They could be facing a maximum punishment of five
\nyears in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 100 million under Law No.
\n5\/1990 on the conservation of natural resources and the
\necosystem.<\/p>\n
For the time being, the open trade of protected animals at
\nKarimata has stopped. But this does not mean that the animals
\naren't being bought and sold more discreetly.<\/p>\n
At this junction, an intelligence operation by the BKSDA would
\nhelp ensure the illegal trade of protected animals was stopped
\nonce and for all.<\/p>\n
It is still doubtful, though, whether the BKSDA really means
\nto stop the illegal trade of orangutans in Semarang. If the
\npractice is halted, the orangutan might have a chance at
\nsurvival.<\/p>\n
There are four species of large apes in the world. They are
\nchimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. Of these four
\nspecies, orangutans are found only in Asia and they are the
\nspecies facing the greatest threat of extinction.<\/p>\n
The orangutan population in Kalimantan faces a real threat.
\nWillie Smit, an orangutan expert, said that in the past two
\ndecades about 80 percent of the habitat of orangutans in
\nKalimantan had been damaged by forest fires, logging, mining and
\nthe conversion of forest into estates.<\/p>\n
In addition, orangutans continue to be hunted. They are either
\ncaptured and sold alive (particularly baby orangutans) or their
\nbodies are sold as souvenirs.<\/p>\n
When Indonesia had an economic crisis in the late 1990s, the
\nhunting of orangutans intensified because many people came to
\ndepend on the orangutan trade for money.<\/p>\n
Since then some 2,000 orangutans have disappeared from their
\noriginal habitat. Unless orangutan hunting is stopped, orangutans
\nwill become extinct by 2010, Smit said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp19primate-1447899208",
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