Rare egrets find save heaven in Sleman

Rare egrets find save heaven in Sleman

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

It is 5:30 p.m. in Ketingan, a hamlet in Sleman regency, some
10 kilometers north of here. The sun is setting and a quiet is
settling over the small hamlet. The call to evening prayers rings
out from the village mosque.

Suddenly, the calm of the village is broken by the flapping
wings of thousands of egrets descending from the sky.

They descend in large numbers, forming a circle before
perching in the trees. In less than an hour, the village is again
quiet.

"They (the egrets) have found a home in the hamlet," Sriyanto,
the Ketingan neighborhood chief, said.

The egrets usually leave the hamlet very early in the morning,
traveling as far as 10 kilometers in their search for food, and
do not return until dusk. Only during the hatching season do
some of the egrets stay in the hamlet during the day, to protect
and feed the young egrets.

Ketingan has become a rare location where egrets have a safe
place they can call home.

Sriyanto said the birds had for the last five years been
living side by side with local residents, who voluntarily
protected the rare birds from hunters.

They let the birds live, nest and grow undisturbed. People
have put up a number of signs around the hamlet warning people
not to disturb or hunt the birds. And they will not hesitate to
stop and turn away trespassers.

"The residents have agreed to protect the birds and let the
animals live safely and peacefully for as long as they like. We
all believe that the birds have brought us good luck," said
Sriyanto.

The villagers of Ketingan cannot remember exactly when the
egrets first moved into their neighborhood. They became aware
their hamlet had become an egret colony after hundreds of the
birds were already there.

But Sriyanto claims he knows the exact day the egrets began
arriving to build their nests.

"It all began in 1997. I saw dozens of egrets building their
nests in bamboo clusters in our backyards. I also noticed that
more and more egrets were coming here after Sultan Hamengku
Buwono X (the governor and sultan of Yogyakarta) paid a visit to
inaugurate an asphalt road here," Sriyanto said.

"We believe Ngarso Dalem (the Sultan)'s visit had something to
do with the growing population of egrets in our neighborhood. It's
like the sultan came here to show the birds a safe place to live,"
he said.

The fact that Ketingan is the only hamlet in the area to boast
an egret colony has caused some superstition among the Ketingan
villagers. They think it is something of a mystery that no birds
live in the neighboring Cebongan hamlet, which has the same
environment and the same tall trees.

Biologist Bambang Agus Suripto of Gadjah Mada University said
that security could be the main reason why the egrets chose
Ketingan and nowhere else to call home.

Living in large groups, egrets are highly sensitive to
disturbances. That is why they live in tall trees, Bambang said.

Bambang also said egrets were good fliers, being able to fly
over 10 kilometers without stopping. That explains why the birds,
which live on fish and other small animals, including lizards,
frogs and worms, can live far away from places where food is
abundant, such as ponds.

Bambang said there were a number of places in the province of
Yogyakarta where egrets temporarily stayed or even lived for a
longer period of time. Gembiraloka Zoo is one, although the egret
population is not as large as that in Ketingan.

In fact, there is still no research on the population size or
the exact species of the egrets currently living in Ketingan.
However, the head of the Yogyakarta Natural Resources
Conservation Board, Kuspriyadi Sulistyo, estimates that the egret
population in Ketingan is about 8,000.

According to Kuspriyadi, egrets in Ketingan belong to at least
two species. Locals call them Kuntul Cina (Chinese Egrets,
scientifically known as Egretta eulophotes) and Blekok Sawah
(Javan Pond-heron or Ardeola speriosa). They belong to the
Ardeidae family.

Government Regulation (PP) No. 9/1999 on plants and animal
preservation placed these two species on the list of protected
birds.

The Yogyakarta Natural Resource Conservation Agency bestowed
an award last month to Ketingan residents for voluntarily
protecting the birds.