Demand for unique Irian Jaya tortoise puts it in peril

By Bayu Dwi Mardana Kusuma

JAKARTA (JP): Irian Jaya is often called Indonesia's biggest herpetology laboratory. A recent study shows that some 253 species of reptiles have been documented in the province: 89 types of snakes, 150 lizards, two kinds of crocodiles, six species of turtles and six tortoises.

Many of Irian Jaya's rare and unique-looking reptiles are only found on its southernmost tip. Yet it is the pignose tortoise (caretochelys insclupta) that attracts the attention of many biologists, because its next of kin is only found in the form of fossils.

Even the layman can readily tell the difference between the pignose tortoise, which is most at home along riverbanks and in swamps, and other members of the tortoise family. Its nose, resembling the snout of a pig, nestles on the tip of its relatively big but short black trunk.

Female pignose tortoises, characterized by oar-shaped front legs with two nails like those of a turtle, come out of water only when they are about to lay eggs. The pignose tortoise is omnivorous, devouring anything edible such as fish, fruits, roots and seeds inclusive of leaves of aquatic plants. They swim exactly like turtles, paddling their front and rear legs in unison. Other physical features encompass a spinal cord with a maximum length of about 61 cm, covered with a soft skin layer and spots.

It is their unique appearance which is bringing the pignose tortoise to the brink of extinction, because they are hunted as pets and to be stuffed as ornaments.

"That's it, it's the nose that is like that of a pig that makes it unique, that's why collectors are crazy for them," said a pet seller in Barito, South Jakarta.

Pignose tortoises were formerly found solely in the southern part of Irian Jaya, but they have also been documented around Carpentaria in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, where they were first spotted in 1970. It is believed the latter were escaped tortoises; they have also been seen at Argumi Bay, Danau Jamur, Timika, Agats, Kimaan, Asiki and Kali Digul.

Smuggling stems from these places, with the reptiles being transported to Merauke before being sent on to big cities like Jakarta and Makassar.

One does not have to go all the way to Merauke or to the hinterland of Irian Jaya to have a good view of the bizarre- looking beast. They are scattered in several pet shops and malls in Jakarta and offered at various prices. A small young tortoise can fetch Rp 150,000 while a middle-sized one with a spinal bone of 20 to 30 cm long is pegged at Rp 800,000.

A senior species conservation officer at the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Indonesia, John A. Maturbongs, said: "From our observations of various pet and bird shops in Jakarta from June 2000 to March 2001, there were some 250 illegal transactions of pignose tortoises."

A pet exporter contacted in Jakarta in March revealed that he had thousands of pignose tortoises in stock. He planned to export them to Singapore. In addition, people in Hong Kong are reported to be fond of consuming the tortoise's meat for health purposes.

Protected

The short-necked tortoise is on the list of endangered species protected by law under a 1978 agriculture ministry decree, but the measure seems to have done little good.

For instance, in May 2000 public prosecutors and forestry officers found some 5,000 young pignose tortoises in one of the river ports near Merauke. It was believed the tortoises were about to be sent to Timika and later to Surabaya's pet and bird shops.

"The local poachers get very little for their catch from local traders, mostly in the form of staple foods: noodles, sugar, cigarettes and other daily amenities," said Benja V. Mambay, a project officer at Lorentz Nasional Conservation, WWF Indonesia.

"They need food more than money and they feel contented with their way of life collecting things of value from the forest."

The local people are ignorant of the fact the tortoise is protected. "It's the traders who know that what they are doing is against the law, but who doesn't need money?"

The exact number of pignose tortoises in the wild is not known to date, but years of rampant poaching and illegal smuggling have decimated the population.

"Just imagine that it takes at least 10 years for the reptile to reach reproductive age. And each adult female normally produces approximately 17 to 35 eggs 33 to 45 mm in size and only about 10 percent of these will survive," Mambay said.

Locals also hunt the tortoises for their meat. Grilled, the meat is served as a side dish to the traditional staple food of sago. But WWF Indonesia's investigation shows that traders collect many more tortoises than the locals kill for food.

An estimated 168,000 eggs were collected by seven groups of traders from August to September 1999. Maturbongs said: "With at least six speedboats and 23 longboats they are able to operate very fast along the Vreischap River in Merauke."

This river has been a favorite spot for the traders to collect eggs and young tortoises; other locations are Kimaan island and Asiki.

Reaction

The Ministry of Forestry often conducts "random" inspections of markets like Barito and Pasar Burung Pramuka in a bid to crack down on the trade in endangered animals. But such measures are seen by many as a formality rather than as an act of law enforcement.

Dr. Djoko T. Iskandar of the Bandung Institute of Technology said the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) were concerned by recent developments in the illegal trade of the pignose tortoise and the vulnerability of the species.

Indonesia ratified CITES through Presidential Decree No. 43/1978 regarding the worldwide trade of flora and fauna. During the 11th conference of the CITES held in Gigiri, Kenya, in 2000, all member countries adopted a resolution on the conservation of freshwater tortoises.

Nevertheless the trade in the tortoises goes on, and no raids have been reported on pet shops in malls in Jakarta and other major cities. Pet shop owners apparently feel there is no danger in putting the tortoises and other endangered species up for sale. For them, like the traders in Irian Jaya, it is all about money, but one day they may find their pockets empty when the pignose tortoise disappears from the wild.