Big-time poacher never gets cought

A notorious peacock poacher, Wagi lives in a simple wooden house. In front of his house is a big wooden cage where he keeps his peacocks before they are sold.

Wagi has been poaching since 1987. "I became a peacock poacher after Haji Merak stopped as a peacock vendor," said the father of two sons. Haji Merak is an old man who became rich and could afford to go on a haj pilgrimage thanks to the illegal business.

While poaching peacocks, Wagi is accompanied by four or five people. After they find a flock of peacocks, a 30 meter by 2 meter net is stretched out. Then they chase the peacocks towards the net.

"It's amusing to see how the peacocks react when they get snared. They are frightened and hide their heads in the bush or in the tree's hole. So we can catch them easily," Wagi said.

Wagi will kill the male peacock and sell the tail feathers for Rp 350,000 unless someone asks him for it to be kept as a pet.

A male peacock costs Rp 1 million.

"Now the peacock is very expensive because it is rare. Much of the forest has disappeared," said Wagi.

Since the reform movement in 1998, there has been widespread lawlessness and thousands of hectares of teak forest around Blora has been illegally logged.

Wagi is also a peacock dealer. When he has no peacocks, he will buy the birds from local poachers who live around the teak forest. He knows practically all the peacock poachers in Central Java and East Java.

Wagi has never been arrested thanks to his collaboration with officials of the state-owned forestry company Perhutani.

"The officials will let me know any time the police crack down on poachers so that I can avoid it," he said.

His customers come from faraway places like Surakarta, Yogyakarta and even Jakarta. "I go by train if I have to deliver them to Jakarta," he said.

Environmentalists fear that peacocks, just like the Javan tiger, will soon be wiped out unless drastic measures are taken to stop poaching.(Bambang M)