Pramuka bird market: Biggest black market for rare animals

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The illegal trade of protected animals continues in Indonesia despite Law No. 5/1990 on the preservation of flora and fauna. Applying the law by banning illegal trade in protected animals has so far failed to stop the trafficking.

The Gibbon Foundation director, Willie Smits, said on Monday that Jakarta was notorious as a center of illegal trade in protected animals.

"Various kinds of protected animals can be easily found at the Pramuka bird market on Jl. Pramuka, East Jakarta. It is the biggest black market for protected animals around the world," he said.

The number of protected animals has continued to decrease due to the illegal trade.

"It could harm the balance of nature," Smits said.

Every single day, three to five orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) are sold at Pramuka market from the total world population of 14,000, he claimed.

"The vendors, mostly criminals, even offer their customers fake documents to deliver the protected animals to any destination outside of Jakarta," Smits said.

Raids on the market have had no effect as the vendors never see the inside of a jail. The vendors often resume business the day after a raid.

Last week, the quarantine office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport seized more than 300 turtles bought at Pramuka market to be smuggled to Hong Kong, China.

General Director of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation Suhariyanto said illegal trade in protected animals had caused Indonesia to suffer financial losses of more than that of illegal logging.

However, he declined to name a figure as there is no available data.

Suhariyanto admitted that the Ministry of Forestry could not fight the illegal trade since it lacked optimum authority, including manpower and funds, to control and arrest smugglers.

"We cannot act alone. We need support from the police, the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Justice," he told reporters during the inauguration of a temporary shelter for protected animals in Tegal Alur subdistrict, Kalideres, West Jakarta.

The ministry has launched a campaign to disseminate information about Law No. 5/1990 and has raided houses and markets allegedly keeping or selling protected animals.

During the inauguration, Smits called on the government to reveal its political will to combat the smuggling of protected animals.

The Gibbon Foundation funded the development of the Rp 775 million (US$75,243) temporary shelter. The foundation will also develop shelters in Surabaya and Malang in East Java, Yogyakarta and Medan, North Sumatra.

"All this time, the government always complains there is no shelter to keep protected animals seized in several raids. We have built a place for them. We'll see if the government reveals its political will. The ball is in their hands now," he said.

Last year, the Gibbon Foundation built a Rp 10 billion closure in Ragunan Zoo for gorillas, courtesy of the late animal lover Mrs. Puck Schmutzer. Four male lowlander gorillas on loan from Howlett and Lymphne Park zoo in Kent, England, were scheduled to arrive in late October, but controversy over the cost of their food caused the plan to be cancel.

The administration had requested an annual fund of Rp 3.2 billion from the 2002 city budget to feed the gorillas. The amount was far higher than the foundation's budget of Rp 200 million.