Officials caught in animal trading: NGOs<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
A network of wildlife protection groups will report three high-
\nranking officials from the Jakarta's Natural Resources
\nConservation Agency to the police for their alleged involvement
\nin the trade of protected animals.<\/p>\n
The activists announced on Friday that they had sufficient
\nevidence to file the report.<\/p>\n
The network comprises the People's Information Center (Lira),
\nProfauna Indonesia, the Animal Advocacy Group (LASA), the
\nIndonesian Society for Animal Welfare (ISAW) and the Alliance for
\nIndonesian Wildlife (AuSI).<\/p>\n
\"We have gathered the evidence for over a year. Usually, they
\nraid animal markets or pet shops, and confiscate protected
\nanimals. Instead of handing over the animals to the state, they
\nsell them abroad at high prices,\" Lira chairman Yusuf Rizal told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The activists revealed that they have documentation taken with
\na hidden video camera that shows the three officials extorting a
\npet shop owner in North Jakarta, demanding Rp 15 million from the
\nowner and threatening to close the shop for selling protected
\nanimals if he does not pay up.<\/p>\n
The officials later took away 24 turtles from the shop and
\nthen sold them to buyers for Rp 15 million on the same day. The
\ntransaction took place behind their office in Salemba, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We will report them to the police on Monday. We will submit
\nall of our evidence, including the video,\" Yusuf said.<\/p>\n
Yusuf suspected that the three officials had sold many
\nprotected animals to local and international markets as they had
\nbeen involved in trading protected animals for years.<\/p>\n
\"It is a very profitable business. An orangutan, for instance,
\ncan be sold for up to US$15,000 if it is sold in Hong Kong,
\nThailand, Singapore, or Japan. But, collectors from the U.S. will
\npay $45,000,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to the investigation conducted by Lira, between 10
\nto 20 orangutans were smuggled each month from Kalimantan through
\nJakarta and other big cities to several countries in Asia and
\nEurope as well as in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Several NGOs have expressed concerns over the increasing level
\nof smuggling of various protected animals.<\/p>\n
According to ProFauna, illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia is
\nestimated to involve Rp 9 trillion a year.<\/p>\n
They complained that many protected animals in the country
\nwill face extinction in the near future unless the government
\ngave sufficient attention to the problems.<\/p>\n
ProFauna pointed out, for instance, that at least 1,000
\nturtles were slaughtered each year along the southern coast of
\nJava island while hundreds of cockatoos in Seram island were sent
\nillegally to Jakarta for trading.<\/p>\n
Article 21 of Law No. 5\/1990 on endangered animals stipulates
\nthat any individual who buys and sells protected animals faces a
\nmaximum punishment of five years in prison or a Rp 100 million
\nfine.<\/p>\n
Despite many complaints and sufficient laws, Jakarta Police
\nseem to be very passive in this regard as they just wait for
\nreports without any efforts to launch a special investigation, as
\nseen from the zero cases they have handled so far this year.<\/p>",
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