Rare animal trade flourishes with 'official' protection

Rare animal trade flourishes with 'official' protection

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Many officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police, as
well as politicians and government officials are involved in the
rare animal trade in the country, allowing the illicit practice
to flourish, activists claim.

Speaking at a year-end press conference on Tuesday, Chairul
Saleh of the Word Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia and
Harry Alexander of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Indonesia
Program called on the leaders of the TNI and police to reprimand
officers found backing the trade in protected animals.

"Next year, we will meet leaders from the TNI and police to
discuss this matter," said Chairul, the head of WWF's Policy and
Trade division here.

Besides backing the trade in endangered animals, he said, lots
of military and police officers had a habit of absconding with
protected animals as souvenirs or pets after their tours of duty
in certain areas of the country.

Chairul said that hundreds of protected birds from North
Maluku and Papua had been taken by Javanese officers before they
returned home this year.

Harry Alexander agreed with Chairul and added that middle- and
high-ranking officers often received rare animals as gifts when
they got promoted to certain positions.

"We recently received a report that a military district chief
in Kerinci regency, Jambi was given a baby bear when he was
appointed this year. But when we went to check the following day,
the bear had allegedly gone missing," said Harry, who is also
coordinator of the Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU).

WCU is a coalition of several non-governmental organizations,
including WCS Indonesia Program, Alas Indonesia and the
Independent Journalist Alliance, as well as the Forestry
Ministry's Natural Resource and Conservation Board.

Harry also said that WCU discovered this year that a local
Golkar politician and member of the Bengkulu legislature, was
involved in the protected animal trade.

"The legislative member was arrested for selling the skin of a
Sumatran Tiger. But we heard that the police are going to release
him," Harry said.

He also said that WCU had noticed that a new method had
developed for those into the selling of protected animals.

He said businessmen often used old women as couriers to
transport protected animals from Lampung to Jakarta by using
state-run Damri bus company.

"Cooperating with the police, we earlier arrested nine old
women and seized hundreds of protected animals. But we finally
released them since we took pity on them," he said.

He said that the women sold the protected animals, usually
various primates and birds, to buyers in Jakarta for between Rp
50,000 (US$5.8) and Rp 150,000.

"If one woman transports 60 animals a week, the nine women can
deliver 25,920 protected animals, taken from many areas in
Sumatra, to Jakarta in a year and the total amount of the
transactions can exceed Rp 2.5 billion," he says.