Corrupt military, police kill off rhinos

Diah Rahayuningsih S. and Bayu Kusuma, Contributors, Jakarta

The endangered rhinos are hunted and killed in Indonesia as their horns are highly valued. There is a myth that the horns possess a medicinal property that fights fever.

This erroneous belief about rhino horns has made rhinos very popular among hunters. Today, experts and environmentalists have put rhinos on their priority list of animals to be protected. Adding to the peril is the dwindling habitat due to human encroachment.

Indonesia is home to two species of rhinos, the single-horned rhinos, better known as the Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and the double-horned rhinos or Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). Each have their own uniqueness.

The Sumatran rhino, for example, has unique hairs. Of the four species of rhinos left in the world - the Javan rhinos, the Sumatran rhinos, the African rhinos and the Indian rhinos - the Sumatran rhinos have the thickest hairs. While young, their bodies are covered by a thick coat of hair. The older they get, however, like many men, the thinner the hair gets.

Rhino hunting in Indonesia has a long history. Hoogerwerf, a famous ecologist from Holland, had records of this activity as far back as 1941. The records compiled by the Rhino Partnership Foundation (YMR), shows that the hunting of Sumatran rhinos, not only with home-made weapons, but also steel traps. A trap can be very dangerous as they remain active in jungle until it snares one of the rare animals. Between 1992 and 1994, there were at least 40 traps found in Ipuh, Kerinci Seblat National Park.

Rhino hunting has reduced the population of Sumatran rhinos in the world is estimated at less than 200. This population has been decreasing at a rate of 10 percent a year. Experts have recorded that in the past decade, the population of rhinos has gone down by up to 50 percent.

The population of Sumatran rhinos now stands at between 100 to 200, spread throughout the Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Way Kambas National Park.

In Java, the population of single-horned rhinos between 1993 and 2001 was estimated at 50. They are concentrated in Ujung Kulon National Park, at Java's western tip.

The reduced population of rhinos in Indonesia has sent a distress call to the world. Various efforts have been made: from experimentation in captive breeding to the establishment of special patrol units assigned to protect rhinos against hunters. These are known as Rhino Protection Units (RPU).

RPUs were established following an international workshop on rhino conservation held in Indonesia in 1991. In this workshop, experts drew up a priority action plan to save rhinos both inside and outside their areas.

"The idea to establish an RPU came from the priority action inside a rhino area. We agreed to set up a special patrol unit to protect the remaining rhinos from all possible threats," said Marcellus Adi CTR of the Sumatran Rhino Reserve Foundation, who was one of the workshop's participants.

With financial aid from the World Bank, this unit began to be operational in 1995. "The first unit was assigned to Air Hitam, Bengkulu," said Widodo S. Ramono, a local expert of rhinos who helped establish this RPU. The next year, the directorate general of forest protection and nature conservation of the forestry ministry obtained funds from the UNDP under the Global Environmental Facility program.

The role of the local community in the effort to conserve rhinos is quite prominent. Experts realize that the community must be involved in this effort. In an RPU one forest ranger will be accompanied by three locals.

"This effort has successfully protected the habitat of rhinos," said Adi.

In view of this encouraging achievement, a number of international donor institutions were interested in providing financial aid for this protection effort. On Jan. 14, 1998, the directorate general of forest protection and nature conservation of the forestry ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), the Asian Rhino Specialist Group (ARSG) and the Rhino Partnership Foundation (YMR) on the establishment of an Indonesian rhino conservation program (PKBI). Later, IRF and WWF Indonesia signed an agreement on the funding of this program.

Since then, RPU has been under the PKBI scheme. Today there are 16 trained units in four national parks in Sumatra and Java. Three teams are assigned in Kerinci Seblat National Park, six in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, four in Way Kambas National Park and the remaining number in Ujung Kulon National Park.

"Aside from conducting patrols, an RPU will also conduct surveys, monitor rhinos and disseminate rhino conservation among the community," A.A, Hutabarat, PKBI program manager, added.

RPU members act like forest rangers. They never show leniency even though most of rhino hunters are reportedly military and police members.

Some time ago, RPU members pressured chief of Blambangan Umpu district police, North Lampung regency police to step down from his job for allegedly being involved in poaching.

"The chief had already escaped but we seized his motor boat that was carrying the port administrator of Way Seputih, Central Lampung and a member of North Lampung district military command," said Arief Rubianto, RPU coordinator for Sumatra.

Last November, the dossier of the investigation was sent to the prosecutor's office of Metro Lampung along with material evidence, such as a dead sambar deer and two rifles. Earlier, an RPU in Way Kambas caught a soldier, who was poaching, red-handed.

Unfortunately, these successful arrests have not been complemented by a just legal process. If such cases even make it to court, the arrested can often get off due to certain influence they possess.

"Today, the public realizes that law enforcement is the weakest link. This is the biggest challenge that an RPU has to deal with," Rubianto lamented.

It is really unfortunate for these RPU activists that the legal enforcers -- the police, the judges and the prosecutors - are yet to fully understand laws on conservation.

The poorly armed RPU members sometimes have to risk their lives. In October 2001, for example, Suparmin, a member of the RPU of Way Kambas unit was shot in the leg. The RPU unit had to face off with about 10 better armed hunters.

An investigation concluded that Suparmin was shot with a Mauser, a weapon usually used by military or police.