Ex-intelligence officer, zoo manager 'steal' birds
Ex-intelligence officer, zoo manager 'steal' birds
SURABAYA (JP): A zoo manager and a former intelligence officer
have been named as suspects by police for stealing and illegally
breeding endangered Bali starlings taken from Surabaya Zoo,
police said.
Lt. Col. (ret.) Kamilo Kalim, a former local Brawijaya
military command intelligence chief, is suspected of stealing
four of the six Bali starlings reported missing on Sept. 9, in
collaboration with Bambang Suhardjito, the acting manager of
Surabaya Zoo.
South Surabaya police precinct Adj. Sr. Comr. Wahyu Indra
Pramugari said that Kalim would be charged with stealing the
birds and illegally breeding them. None of the suspects has been
detained.
Kalim is chairman of Surabaya Zoo Presidium. Surabaya city
government took over the zoo's ownership from ex-government and
military officials in August.
The Bali starling is an endangered species. In its natural
habitat in West Bali, there are only about 13 left. The market
price of a starling is about Rp 10 million.
Wahyu said the police seized the four birds from Kalim's
residence last week, following the zoo's report that six
starlings had disappeared from their cages.
Under Law No. 5/1990, Kalim could be subject to five year's
imprisonment and a Rp 100 million fine.
In his defense, Kalim said the police were wrong in accusing
him of stealing the birds. He claimed he had bred the birds from
Oct. 9, 1999 with permission from Surabaya Zoo's then manager
Stanny Soebakir, who is also under investigation.
Kalim said that Stanny had permitted him to breed the birds in
Malang, where Kalim lived, but he then moved to Surabaya after
the project failed.
"I have always reported every development in the breeding to
the zoo. So it's untrue that I stole the birds," Kalim said.
A number of suspicious deaths of animals in the zoo have been
reported since Stanny resigned in August, 2001, including a
Bengal tiger, a Sumatran tiger, a lion, a komodo dragon and an
elephant.
Speculation is rife that the animals were poisoned by old zoo
officials who were unhappy about their dismissal, but police said
they had yet to investigate the cases. (nur)