Hunted and hounded, rare Boelen's python slithers to extinction
Hunted and hounded, rare Boelen's python slithers to extinction
By Bayu Dwi Mardana Kusuma
JAKARTA (JP): In terms of survival, Boelen's python has the
odds stacked against it.
For one, its gorgeous coloring makes it a favorite of snake
and reptile collectors the world over. Second, it fares poorly in
captivity, outside the cool climes of its natural Irian Jaya
habitat.
And, perhaps most significantly, it is not poisonous, leaving
it easy prey for people intent on catching it for the reptile
trade.
With the local name sanca bulan and genus morelia boeleni, it
is a shy, sometimes aggressive python found only in Jayawijaya
and part of the Puncak Jaya area in the province.
K.W. J. Boelen M first recorded the holotype of the python on
December 25, 1952, in Dimija near Wissel Lake, Paniai district,
about 1,750m above sea level. Little research has been done on it
in the wild, although it is known to lay up to 14 eggs.
The snake is easy to identify because of its striking colors.
It is pitch black on its upper part, lined with a bluish purple
hue. On its underside, it has irregular markings in yellow or
white. A line stretches along its underside.
The snake's head has broad bars in white on the scales of the
upper part of the mouth. The chin and the throat have black spots
on a white surface. The lower part of the body is white or
yellowish in front, getting darker in the middle part of the body
and in the back.
A wide-bodied python, its head is broad but narrows toward the
neck. Its eyes are large, characterized by vertical pupils, and
it measures from about 1.80 m to more than 2.40 m in length.
Due to its rarity and unique coloring, the python now commands
fantastic prices. It can fetch up to Rp 6 million on the black
market in Jakarta, but the real killings are to be made with
foreign buyers. Locals formerly hunted the snake, particularly
large ones, for food, but now they recognize its value in the
reptile trade, which continues under a "quota" system.
A quick scan of Internet sites found various prices, from
US$20,000 for a pair offered by a dealer in the United States, to
$3,100 for "babies", and a low of $650 for a young male. On the
latter site, a green tree python (morelia viridis), also from
Irian Jaya and one of the most sought-after snakes in the world,
carried a price of $150.
A Jakarta vendor, who advertises his animals on a webpage,
felt fortunate to receive six of the snakes last month, even as
the population declines.
A researcher from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in
Irian Jaya, Johannes Arthur Maturbongs, said the python is rarely
found in its original habitat today. When WWF conducted a survey
of the python's population in Wamena, Jayawijaya district, in
mid-2000, it found only one specimen.
"That was found only after we went down extremely steep, mossy
mountain slopes," said Maturbongs.
It is believed human predation and deforestation are pushing
the snake into the highest mountain forests, above its normal
range of 1,000 meters to 2,000 meters above sea level. It is
known to prefer humid, dark areas.
"As python hunting has intensified, the snake tends to hide at
the sight of people. It is very sensitive to vibration,"
Maturbongs said.
Forests have been cut down to plant crops by the locals, who
practice the traditional rotational method of farming. They will
use a field for a maximum of two years, and then leave it for
four years; in the meantime, they open up new fields by cutting
down more forest.
"It is regrettable that the locals do not set limits in
clearing a forest area and have turned forest areas on steep
mountain slopes into their fields," said Maturbongs.
Captivity
The animal, which is active at night, does not do well when it
is kept in captivity in hotter climates.
"Basically, it is very hard to raise a sanca bulan in a dry
climate," said one vendor, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity. "As it is used to a cold area, it seems to lose its
appetite when it is taken to a hot region. The skin will become
darker.
"As the snake will initially refuse food, the collector will
overfeed it," he said, adding that this would eventually kill
the animal.
A UK website providing advice to prospective snake owners,
www.nafcon.dircon.co.uk/pythons.html, notes the difficulty of
keeping the python.
Calling the young snakes "skittish", the site gave the animal
the highest "difficulty level" of 3. "Even if you have the money,
you should avoid this python ..." the website warned.
It is a pity that there are as yet no signs the government
will provide total protection for the python.
It is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES),
which Indonesia ratified in 1978, but trading is allowed.
Despite opposition from reptile traders, who say there is no
data to support warnings about the snake's plight, the quota for
2000 and 2001 is 125, down from 200 in 1999 and 1998. The Natural
Resource Conservation Center (BKSDA) of Irian Jaya I Jayapura,
which is part of the forestry ministry, has recommended several
times that the python be included on the list of protected
animals by recategorizing its status to Appendix 1.
But the quota system counts for little when illegal hunting of
the animal continues.
Conservationists are urging the government to act now, or else
the python, coveted by many for its beauty but about which so
little is known, will disappear forever from the Irian Jaya
highlands.
The writer is an environmental activist.