Officials caught in animal trading: NGOs
Officials caught in animal trading: NGOs
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
A network of wildlife protection groups will report three high-
ranking officials from the Jakarta's Natural Resources
Conservation Agency to the police for their alleged involvement
in the trade of protected animals.
The activists announced on Friday that they had sufficient
evidence to file the report.
The network comprises the People's Information Center (Lira),
Profauna Indonesia, the Animal Advocacy Group (LASA), the
Indonesian Society for Animal Welfare (ISAW) and the Alliance for
Indonesian Wildlife (AuSI).
"We have gathered the evidence for over a year. Usually, they
raid animal markets or pet shops, and confiscate protected
animals. Instead of handing over the animals to the state, they
sell them abroad at high prices," Lira chairman Yusuf Rizal told
The Jakarta Post.
The activists revealed that they have documentation taken with
a hidden video camera that shows the three officials extorting a
pet shop owner in North Jakarta, demanding Rp 15 million from the
owner and threatening to close the shop for selling protected
animals if he does not pay up.
The officials later took away 24 turtles from the shop and
then sold them to buyers for Rp 15 million on the same day. The
transaction took place behind their office in Salemba, Central
Jakarta.
"We will report them to the police on Monday. We will submit
all of our evidence, including the video," Yusuf said.
Yusuf suspected that the three officials had sold many
protected animals to local and international markets as they had
been involved in trading protected animals for years.
"It is a very profitable business. An orangutan, for instance,
can be sold for up to US$15,000 if it is sold in Hong Kong,
Thailand, Singapore, or Japan. But, collectors from the U.S. will
pay $45,000," he said.
According to the investigation conducted by Lira, between 10
to 20 orangutans were smuggled each month from Kalimantan through
Jakarta and other big cities to several countries in Asia and
Europe as well as in the U.S.
Several NGOs have expressed concerns over the increasing level
of smuggling of various protected animals.
According to ProFauna, illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia is
estimated to involve Rp 9 trillion a year.
They complained that many protected animals in the country
will face extinction in the near future unless the government
gave sufficient attention to the problems.
ProFauna pointed out, for instance, that at least 1,000
turtles were slaughtered each year along the southern coast of
Java island while hundreds of cockatoos in Seram island were sent
illegally to Jakarta for trading.
Article 21 of Law No. 5/1990 on endangered animals stipulates
that any individual who buys and sells protected animals faces a
maximum punishment of five years in prison or a Rp 100 million
fine.
Despite many complaints and sufficient laws, Jakarta Police
seem to be very passive in this regard as they just wait for
reports without any efforts to launch a special investigation, as
seen from the zero cases they have handled so far this year.