RI safe haven for bear trafficking
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia has become a safe haven for the illegal trade of bears -- both live and their body parts -- despite laws banning the practice, a non-governmental organization (NGO) said on Monday.
A two-year investigation by the Animal Conservation For Life (KSBK) showed that the endangered local honey bear, or Helarctos malayanus, had been traded freely at local markets, with some exported to neighboring countries.
Bird markets on Jl. Pramuka in East Jakarta and in Medan, North Sumatra are two locations where the bears sell for Rp 2 million (about US$185).
In Pontianak, West Kalimantan, the price for a bear is about Rp 600,000. In Singkawang, West Kalimantan, a battalion of the Indonesian Military (TNI) is keeping four bears.
Indonesia has also exported live bears and their body parts to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China.
In Singapore, the gall bladder of a honey bear is sold for Rp 4 million, while in Malaysia, it sells for Rp 2.5 million, KSBK said.
The local bear is protected under the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES), which Indonesia signed in 1978.
The Ministry of Agriculture banned the trade of bears under decree No. 66/1973. Under Article 21 in Law No. 5/1990 on natural conservation, the trading of protected animals is banned and those who violate the law face up to five years in jail and a fine of up to Rp 100 million.
In 1990, statistics showed that Indonesia had about 18,000 bears left.
Indonesia has also been importing products containing the body parts of protected bears from China, particularly in medicine.
KSBK said that a survey conducted in 2001 and 2002 revealed that 62 percent of 124 drug stores in eight large cities, such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bengkulu, Pontianak, Jambi, and Sintang in West Kalimantan, had sold medicine containing the gall bladder and bile of bears.
Among those brands are Pien Tze Huang, selling for Rp 100,000 to Rp 300,000 per package, which is believed to cure hepatitis; Tieh Ta Wan, Zhongguo Mochus for the treatment of hemorrhoids (Rp 15,000) and Yunan Paiyao (Rp 6,000).
"At least 55.6 percent of the stores sell medicine manufactured from the gall bladder and bile of the bear, 10 percent distribute the whole gall bladder, and the remaining sell farmed bear bile powder," Dedi Kurniawan, the KSBK bear program coordinator, told a news conference.
"This trade started in the 1980s, but nobody noticed it. Even the Ministry of Health has put its seal on the medicine's packaging, thus making the drugs seemingly legal," he added.
He said drugs containing bear parts were imported by several companies, including PT Saras Subur Ayoe.
"This illegal trade must be stopped as it is against CITES and can push the bear into extinction. The government should not issue a license to import this medicine," Dedi said.
Citing data from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), there are 200 bear farms with 7,000 bears in China that produce about 7,000 kilograms of bile annually.
Dedi said the customs office, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Forestry need to also coordinate with each other to end the illegal trade of medicine containing parts of bears.