Animal center raises new hope for conservation

Animal center raises new hope for conservation

Bambang M and Mahmud NA, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Large iron cages stand strongly on a plot of land measuring
almost 14 square hectares in Paingan hamlet, Sendangsari,
Kulonprogo regency, some 15 kilometers to the west of Yogyakarta.

Some are rectangular while others are dome-shaped. There are
also moats surrounded by iron fences. The distinctive sounds of
cockatoos and gibbons are heard simultaneously.

This is not a zoo, although it looks like one. This is the
center for wild life conservation (PPS) of Yogyakarta. It is here
that legally protected animals, confiscated by the state or
voluntarily surrendered by community members, are accommodated,
and "re-educated" before being released back into the wild.

It is one of six such centers across Indonesia. The other five
are found in Jakarta, Sukabumi in West Java, Manado in North
Sulawesi, Malang in East Java and Wanariset Samboja in East
Kalimantan.

"All these centers were built in mid 2002 with financial
assistance from The Gibbon Foundation," said Sugihartono, project
manager of PPS Yogyakarta. The Gibbon Foundation is a Holland-
based environmental non-government organization.

The establishment of these six centers gives new hope that
efforts may be maximized to eradicate illegal trading and
possession of protected animals (dead or alive) as stipulated in
Law No. 5/1990.

Protected animals commonly kept as pets by people in cities
include certain species of birds, crocodiles, bears, leopards and
primates. Deddy Pranowo Eryono, the owner of Ruba Graha Hotel in
Yogyakarta, for example, is known to have kept a sapit alligator
(Tomistoma schlegelii) without a proper document.

Even universities violate this government regulation on
protected animals. UGM in Yogyakarta, for example, possesses two
Timorese deer (Cervus timorensis). These two and five spotted
deer (Axis axis) are kept at UGM's Valley Park. Center for
Conservation of Natural Resources (BKSDA) of Yogyakarta have
twice asked UGM to process the licensing for keeping the deer but
to no avail so far.

The university's school of veterinary medicine, which owns the
two Timorese deer, was tight-lipped about this matter. "No
comment," said HR Wasito, the dean of the school, apparently
irritated.

Data compiled by the BKSDA of Yogyakarta in 1991 showed that
there were over 3,000 people that own protected animals in this
province. "Thirty percent of them have live animals while the
rest possess stuffed animals," said Sulistyo Wibowo, a staff
member of the center.

The figure for the entire country, however, is amazingly
large. As of 2000, according to the data from the Director
General of Nature Protection and Conservation, there were 69,180
owners of protected animals. They possessed 59,022 living
animals, 63,315 animals preserved in whole and 26,876 preserved
parts of animals. Of course, the real number is greater as not
all owners of such animals are registered.

Rife trading and possession of protected animals (also the
damaged habitat) have made Indonesia, known as one of the world's
centers of biological diversity, become one of the countries with
the biggest number of animals facing extinction. Records of IUCN
(The World Conservation Union) show that in Indonesia, 128
species of mammals, 104 birds, 19 reptiles, 60 fish and 29
invertebrates face the threat of extinction.

Apart from the earnestness of a few law enforcers, Sigit
Riyanto, lecturer of the school of law at UGM said that the
eradication of wild animal trading and possession could not be
carried out to the optimum as Law No. 5/1990 was yet to be
completed with important supporting facilities like PPS.

"In the absence of such a center, the confiscated animals will
simply die later," he said.

Before a PPS-type facility comes into being, every time the
government confiscates animals, it will leave these animals in
the zoos or other conservation institutions. As great costs
result, zoos are willing to accept only animals not yet in their
possession. "Besides, zoos prefer large and exotic animals only
to lure visitors," Sugihartono said.

To ensure that this problem is well addressed, the Forestry
Ministry issued a Decree in 1992 stipulating that protected
animals owned by citizens are the legal property of the state. As
a special place is yet to be available for these animals, these
owners may continue to cage these animals. In status, these
animals are left by the state in the care of community members.
Any time the state wishes to take them back, it can do so.

The period in which these protected animals were left in the
care of community members spanned between June 1, 1991 up to
October 31, 1992. Unfortunately, when this period expired, the
state was yet to collect these animals. Meanwhile, there is a
growing number of people who have protected animals. They can
easily buy the animals from markets in major cities or from the
place where the animals come.

"Now that PPS has come into being, there is no reason for the
government not to undertake confiscation of protected animals,"
said Sugihartono, while adding that confiscation is necessary as
a shock therapy to discourage community members from keeping
protected animals. "If confiscation continues, community members
will be discouraged from taking these animals. The market demand
for these animals will drop and hunting of such animals will
become rarer, as well," said Sugihartono.

Although each PPS will accommodate every species of
confiscated wild animal, some of them have their own
specialization. PPS Yogyakarta, for example, will be specially
intended for reptiles. The center in Sukabumi for carnivores
while the one in Malang for primates. Orangutans will be kept in
Wanariset Samboja. Two more PPS - in Jakarta and Manado - can
take any wild animals.

All these PPS establish operational cooperation. If an
orangutan is confiscated in Yogyakarta, it will be left in the
care of PPS Yogyakarta temporarily. Then, it will be dispatched
to Wanariset Samboja. Then, if a reptile is confiscated in West
Java, it will be kept temporarily in Sukabumi before being
finally sent to Yogyakarta.

Each PPS is completed with facilities such as a laboratory, a
clinic, a quarantine room and an isolation room. All animals
taken to a PPS will be examined. If they are sick, they will be
treated. If they cannot be cured and there is fear they will
spread their disease to other animals, they will be destroyed.

When they are declared healthy, they will be trained again on
living in the wild so that they will be ready for their original
habitat.

Sugihartono said that PPS Yogyakarta, built at a cost of Rp 4
billion (about US$470,000), was the largest of such centers. It
has a conference hall, a computer room, a library and 10
bedrooms.

"Aside from being a facility where protected animals are
saved, a PPS is also a center of environmental information and
education," he said. Although this PPS has been only 85 percent
completed, it is now operational and keeps some confiscated
animals.

The present six PPS are not enough, said Sugihartono. Ideally,
each province needs to have one such center.

However, the presence of a PPS has given rise to criticisms.
"Can these centers accept all animals confiscated by the state?
Besides, care must be taken to prevent a PPS being considered a
new zoo," said Kuspriyadi, head of BKSDA of Yogyakarta.

Other critics say that a PPS cannot solve the existing
problems unless the habitat is saved first.

"Is there any assurance that the animals that are released in
the wild can survive if their habitat continues to sustain
damage?" asked Triman Setyardi of Yayasan Kutilang Indonesia for
Bird Conservation.