Poaching of rare species detected at national park

Poaching of rare species detected at national park

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Flora & Fauna International (FFI) and the Team for the
Conservation of Sumatran Tigers (TPHS) have received reports on
the unchecked poaching of Sumatran elephants and other protected
species in Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) in Jambi.

According to the reports, local people have recovered four
dead elephants with their tusks missing in several areas of the
park in the regencies of Merangin and Kerinci.

Deborah J. Martyr, a researcher with FFI's Indonesia program
who accompanied the TPHS on a patrol through the national park in
March, said the TPHS along with several FFI researchers received
many reports from locals that a group of poachers had been
hunting numerous protected species in the park for months.

While patrolling elephant habitats in Gunung Nilo, Ulu
Sipurak, Ulu Sula, Air Sumpen and Muara Imat, the team recovered
the carcass of an elephant in Ulu Sipurak. It was suspected the
protected animal was killed in February.

Local people informed the team that the elephant was shot and
killed by a group of poachers who came in through the northern
part of the park in Kerinci regency.

Deborah said that while on patrol, they also heard several
gunshots in the elephant habitat area, but the team failed to nab
the poachers.

Poachers have so far hunted and killed elephants, Sumatran
tigers and deer.

"We also received information from a fisherman in Ulu Sula
that he had just discovered the carcass of an elephant at the
national park that was also missing its tusks. Local people
refused to identify the poachers, fearing for their own safety,"
Antara quoted her as saying on Wednesday in Beringin.

FFI has sent a team of several researchers to help Indonesia
monitor the population of rare species and a midget tribal group,
locally called orang pendek or short men, in the protected
forests.

Local people also reported finding two more elephant carcasses
missing their tusks in other parts of the national park. It is
thought the two were killed in March.

Deborah said that, according to the reports, a group of eight
poachers equipped with rifles and traps were still poaching
protected species in Muara Air Sumpen and Batang Merangin.

She believes that the poachers are professional hunters, and
local people say they were hired by a resident of Jambi city and
had been hunting in the park for several years.

The TPHS also conducted a special patrol in 2001 following the
discovery of four elephant carcasses missing their tusks in the
park.

Over the last two years, a motion-automated camera placed by
FFI in the national park has detected three major herds of
elephants, each with around ten members, and several smaller
herds with between three to five members each.

Besides Kerinci national park, the protected species is also
found in Aceh, West Sumatra and Lampung.