Emerald monitors return home

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After traveling 21,500 kilometers and accumulating nearly 10,000 frequent-flyer miles, 33 smuggled emerald monitor lizards (Varanus prasinus), native to the rain forests of Papua, have found their way back to Indonesia.

The journey of the green-skinned monitors, closely related to the komodo (Varanus komodoensis), started and ended in Jakarta, with a two-month transit in Croatia.

The emerald monitors were brought back from Croatia by an international consortium of wildlife groups that organized and financed the US$13,600 (Rp 12.5 million) repatriation operation.

"The repatriation is the best thing that could have happened," said Femke den Haas, who accompanied the 33 rescued monitors during their 48-hour journey to Indonesia, which included a stay at airline KLM's animal "hotel".

Femke, the manager for the Tegal Alur Wild Animal Center in West Jakarta, said that the returning of the protected species reflected a "strong stance" being taken against the illegal trade of animals. It showed governments and international organizations were working together to combat the problem, he said.

An official from the nature conservation division of the Ministry of Forestry, Kurnia Rauf, said: "This is great news ... it shows CITES works."

The Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), was ratified by both Indonesia and Croatia.

On Nov. 28, airport officials in Zagreb, Croatia, discovered 50 emerald monitors, measuring between 30 to 50 centimeters, jumbled together in a carry-on bag belonging to Dalvir Kumar, a Croatian citizen returning from Jakarta.

The Croatian government, arrested Kumar and then notified the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry about the incident, as required by CITES.

The Ministry then delegated the task of repatriating the monitors to the Indonesian Rescue Center Network, which joined forces with Zagreb-based AWAP, Pro Animalia, Animals First and the Gibbon Foundation. The network then sent Femke den Haas as their envoy to Croatia.

Once there, Femke discovered that only 33 of the 43 remaining monitors were declared fit to make the homeward journey. Seven of the original 50 smuggled monitors, which can be sold for up to US$ 1,960 each, had died shortly after arriving in Croatia.

The other 10 remain under the care of the Croatian government and are to be returned to Indonesia at a later date.

The 33 monitors traveled in heated compartments fulfilling international safety standards on animal travel. However, one emerald monitor died shortly after arriving in Jakarta last Thursday. The 32 survivors are under a 14-day monitoring period at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Animal Quarantine center.

Femke expressed concern that the facilities at the airport quarantine could spoil the group's two-month long effort.

"They have no facilities for the monitors," said Femke. "My worst nightmare would be if they died there."

The head of the airport quarantine, Lukas Tonga, admitted that the quarantine had initially not been prepared to handle the monitors as no one had informed him of their impending arrival.

However, he guaranteed that all of the 32 monitors were being well cared for.

"We appreciate the Rescue Network's efforts, but we are only following procedures," Lukas said.

He said that last Thursday, the day the monitors arrived, the quarantine had four tanks available for them and the next day the Rescue Network brought over and donated four more tanks. He explained that Sunday the quarantine added another seven tanks to bring the total number of terrariums to 15.

Femke said that at the end of the 14-day quarantine period, the monitors would be transferred to the Tegal Alur Wild Animal Rescue Facility, where they would be rehabilitated and treated.

"We then hope to reintroduce them to the Papua rain forests as soon as possible," said Femke.