Seizing illegal pets an uphill challenge<\/p>\n
Bambang M, Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
"I can't accept this. I'm really disappointed. This is not
\ndemocratic at all. You are forcing your will on me," said Sutedjo
\nwhen members of a joint team made up of Yogyakarta Natural
\nResources Conservation Center, Yogyakarta police and a number of
\nenvironmental non-governmental organizations confiscated two
\nprotected cockatoos from him.<\/p>\n
There was a tense argument. Sutedjo, the owner of "Berkah", a
\nshop selling building materials argued that he had a permit to
\nkeep the protected birds. He also telephoned a police officer
\nfriend for some back up. Eventually, though, the two cockatoos
\nwere seized.<\/p>\n
A similar situation occurred when a raid of this kind was
\nconducted in March. The owners tried to prevent the animals from
\nbeing confiscated while the officers on duty insisted on
\nconfiscating the animals as possession of them is in direct
\nviolation of Law No. 5\/1990 on conservation.<\/p>\n
The law stipulates that it is forbidden to catch, keep,
\ntransport or trade protected animals, either live or dead. It
\nmandates imprisonment of a maximum of 5 years or a fine amounting
\nto a maximum of Rp 100 million for perpetrators.<\/p>\n
Although these stipulations are read before them, the owners
\nusually refuse to hand over their "pets". Dody Widya Rusmana, a
\nbusinessman on Jl. Mataram, Yogyakarta, for example, refused to
\nlet go of a gibbon (Symphalangus syndactylus) belonging to his
\nfather, who was still in Padang when a confiscation team came to
\ntake away the animal.<\/p>\n
"Please come back tomorrow when my dad is back here," he said.
\nThe officers did not insist and agreed. Rusmana, however, had to
\nsign a statement that he would agree to hand over the gibbon the
\nnext day.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the father was still away the next day.
\nAlthough Rusmana could not produce a permit for possession of the
\ngibbon, he was still reluctant to comply with the confiscation
\nteam's request. This time, the officers in charge insisted on
\ntaking away the gibbon as Rusmana had signed the statement.
\nRusmana was livid.<\/p>\n
"He tore up the statement that he had signed the previous
\nday," said Edi Warsito of the Yogyakarta conservation center, who
\nled the raid. In addition, the team also confiscated a stuffed
\nSumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) as it too, had no
\npermit.<\/p>\n
The team was drawn into a heated argument when they went to
\nconfiscate two green peacocks (Pavo muticus) from Pesona Pingka
\nrestaurant in Wedomartani village, Sleman. Mucharom, who is
\nresponsible for the restaurant management, asked for a
\npostponement, arguing that the owner of the restaurant was then
\naway. "My boss would like to see you first," he said after
\ncontacting his boss by phone.<\/p>\n
When Edi Warsito and police brigadier Sultonudin from the
\nYogyakarta police said they could not wait, Mucharom contacted
\nhis boss again. When he was asked to immediately sign a statement
\non the handing over of animals, again he asked the team to
\npostpone the confiscation. "I don't know what to tell my boss
\nabout this," he said before finally signing the statement. It
\ntook close to two hours to finally seize the two peacocks.<\/p>\n
In some cases, however, it runs smoothly for the diligent
\nteam. After some explanation from the officers in charge, the
\nillegally captured animals are handed over. "I didn't know that a
\npermit was needed to keep this animal. So, just take it away,"
\nsaid HM Kusman Abdi, director of Vocational Training Center of
\nYogyakarta State University. So, he let go the green peacock he
\nhad been keeping.<\/p>\n
In major cities like Jakarta the seizure of protected animals
\nmust go through a more complicated process. "Often we fail to get
\ninto the house as the security men bar us," said Sugihartono,
\nproject manager of Wildlife Rescue Center of Yogyakarta, who has
\nsome experience taking part in a raid to confiscate protected
\nanimals in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Several years ago, Sugihartono had quite a tense experience in
\nSukabumi. When the officers and non-governmental organization
\nactivists were going to conduct confiscation, the owner shouted,
\n"Thieves, Thieves..." to his neighbors to get them to come mete
\nout mob justice.<\/p>\n
As a result, dozens of locals ran to the house with various
\nkinds of weapons and were ready to attack the team members. "We
\ncontacted the local police to control the mob. Only then could we
\nconduct the confiscation," he said.<\/p>\n
Many efforts to confiscate protected animals kept by high-
\nranking military officers have failed. It is generally known that
\nthese people are fond of keeping protected animals. Usually, they
\nget these animals as "souvenirs" from the regions where they are
\nassigned. Sometimes they get them from their subordinates as
\n"gifts."<\/p>\n
"One of our men was told to leave when he was going to enter
\nthe house of a high-ranking military officer in Yogyakarta. This
\nofficer was thought to have a lot of protected birds," said
\nWiratno. This raid was conducted when he was head of Yogyakarta
\nnatural resources conservation center (1999 - 2001). "You will
\nfind a similar situation anywhere," he added.<\/p>\n
Aside from the dialog to facilitate this confiscation, another
\ndifficulty is related to the transfer of these protected animals.
\nA special trick must be employed to collect animals that are
\nlikely to hurt people or wild animals.<\/p>\n
When they were going to collect the gibbon belonging to
\nRusmana's father, the activists of Yogyakarta PPS (center
\naccommodating seized animals) with the assistance of the
\ncaretaker of the animal - took a lot of time to persuade the
\ngibbon to leave its cage and move to the cage prepared by the
\nconfiscation team. The team had to approach the gibbon softly as
\notherwise he would bite them. Still, however, Oki of PPS
\nYogyakarta got bitten in the hand.<\/p>\n
There was also difficulty when a confiscation team was going
\nto confiscate a sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) owned by
\nSudarwanto of Pacitan, who was then running an "animal show" at
\nWedomartani village, Sleman. This animal has sharp claws and was
\nvery difficult to move to the cage prepared by the team. Under
\nthe scorching sun, the team members could eventually lift the
\nbear and its iron cage - weighing a total of some 200 kgs - and
\nput it into a truck.<\/p>\n
Talking about the difficulty faced during a confiscation
\nprocess, Wiratno attributed this to the lack of understanding of
\nthe law.<\/p>\n
Is it true that the owners of protected animals really do not
\nknow that it is forbidden to keep protected animals? Many of them
\nare from the middle class and must have easy access to
\ninformation. Wiratno, now assigned by the forestry ministry to
\nhelp Conservation International-Indonesia Program, said, "Some of
\nthem are ignorant of the law but some others intentionally
\nviolate the law," he said.<\/p>\n
When he was head of Yogyakarta natural resources conservation
\ncenter, Wiratno said, the center confiscated a number of
\norangutans from a high-ranking police officer in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
"As a law enforcer, this officer, strangely, said he was not
\naware that it was forbidden to keep an orangutan," said Wiratno,
\nwho obviously could not hide his surprise at this ignorance.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Sugihartono tended to believe that the majority of
\nthe people knew that possessing or keeping protected animals was
\nnot allowed by the state. "They intentionally violate the law
\njust to pursue their hobby," he added.<\/p>\n
A confiscation process is usually difficult because the owner
\nconcerned has fallen in love with the animals in his possession
\nor because the animals is expensive. In some other cases, the
\nowners believe that they have some backing from powerful
\nofficials. In the case of high-ranking officials, they believe
\nthat they are above any laws.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/seizing-illegal-pets-an-uphill-challenge-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}