Rare animal trade out of control

DENPASAR, Bali: Inter-island trading in rare animals in Indonesia is getting out of hand, therefore law-enforcement agencies need to step up efforts to fight the illegal trade, local conservationist I Wayan Wiradnyana said here on Saturday.

Wayan said hundreds of rare animals such as orangutans, gibbons, sloths, eagles and cockatoos were sent every week from the island of Sumatra to Java.

Based on a study conducted by Wayan and his team in Medan, Bengkulu, Lampung, Kalimantan, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali and Papua, the rare animals were transported by inter-city buses.

Despite the Natural Resources Conservation Agency's efforts to stop the inter-island trade in rare animals by keeping a close watch on people and cargo passing through bus terminals and seaports, the illegal trade continued, Wayan said.

He said that not only Jakarta but also Semarang and Surabaya on Java island were known as entry points for the transport of rare animals from Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. -- Antara