Officials raid illegal circus, rescue animals<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A ranger carefully shot a tranquilizer dart into a restless
\nleopard. After fifteen minutes, it was sedated, making it
\npossible for other rangers to move the gigantic cat from its
\nsmall cage to a spacious one.<\/p>\n
The drama did not take place at the leopard's native home in
\nAfrica, but here in Jakarta at a makeshift mini circus on Jl.
\nBuaran I in Rawa Badung hamlet, Cakung, East Jakarta, at the far
\nend of Pulogadung Industrial Estate.<\/p>\n
Tipped off by non-governmental organization ProFauna
\nIndonesia, which deals with wild animals and the protection of
\ntheir natural habitat, officers of the Coordinating Body for
\nNatural Resources Protection (BKSDA) at the Ministry of Forestry
\nraided the circus last week.<\/p>\n
Involving Jakarta Police detectives in the raid, the officers
\nrescued 11 endangered animals of different species: the leopard
\n(Panthera pardus), a Burmese python (Python molurus) known
\nlocally as sanca bodo, and an Asiatic black bear.<\/p>\n
The raid also saved two black long-tailed monkeys or lutung, a
\nyellow-crested cockatoo, a golden eagle, a porcupine, a squirrel,
\nan Estuarine crocodile, and a large crocodile indigenous to the
\nrivers of Papua, known as the Sungulok crocodile.<\/p>\n
The animals, which are protected under Law No. 5\/1990 on
\nbiodiversity conservation, have been temporarily moved to the
\nAnimal Rescue Unit (PPA) in Tegal Alur, West Jakarta, before the
\ngovernment finds new homes for the animals.<\/p>\n
The police detectives of the special unit for animal
\nprotection took the circus owner, snake charmer Kirsadik who
\ncalls himself Bidut Sableng, to their headquarters for an
\ninterrogation. Bidut said that he had licenses to own and to make
\na profit from the animals.<\/p>\n
\"But these licenses are invalid,\" said Putu, one of the police
\ndetectives.<\/p>\n
The 1990 law stipulates that a person who possesses or keeps
\nendangered\/protected animals, dead or alive, and\/or parts of
\nendangered\/protected animals, are subject to a maximum five-year
\njail term and Rp 100 million (US$11,235) in fines.<\/p>\n
The government once issued a ministerial decree in 1991 which
\nallowed citizens to harbor endangered\/protected animals
\ntemporarily, in an effort to ease the government burden in
\nregistering their numbers. The decree was revoked one year after
\nin was enacted.<\/p>\n
Although harboring or keeping the animals is now a criminal
\noffense, it is widely publicized that many prominent people, such
\nas high-ranking armed forces officers, businesspeople and well-
\nknown artists have private miniature zoos in their backyards.<\/p>\n
Moreover, despite rising cases, the smuggling of
\nendangered\/protected animals has yet to be handled seriously.
\nThe smuggling of endangered\/protected animals is now rated the
\nsecond biggest crime in the country after drugs and arms
\nsmuggling.<\/p>\n
The rescued animals, according to coordinator of ProFauna's
\nJakarta chapter Hardi Baktiantoro, are in very poor condition.
\nThe bear is suffering smallpox, while the monkeys are
\ntraumatized, as evidenced by self-inflicted injuries.<\/p>\n
Other animals in the circus, such as a large monitor lizard,
\npig-tailed macaques, long-tailed monkeys, a goat with five feet,
\na rooster with three feet and a Persian cat, are also in poor
\ncondition. However, Bidut denied neglecting the animals.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not a bad person. I spend Rp 400,000 per day to feed them
\ngoat meat. But this business is not so profitable. I'm just
\nearning a living by putting the animals on exhibition. I'm not
\nselling them,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
The circus, which charged each visitor a Rp 2,000 entrance
\nfee, had been in operation for only a week. A resident, Idi
\nMuhamad, said nobody ever visited the circus.<\/p>\n
\"But we know that Bidut has been in this business for a long,
\nlong time,\" he said.<\/p>",
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