Turtledove breeders singing a happy tune

Turtledove breeders singing a happy tune

By Asip Agus Hasani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Turtle dove breeders in this ancient town
whistle happy tunes now as the economic crisis has thrust other
businesses into the jaws of bankruptcy.

Major turtle dove (perkutut) sellers have reported they are
overwhelmed by the rising demand for high-quality song birds,
especially perkutut Bangkok (Bangkok turtle dove). As the name
suggests, bird sellers claim the doves are imported from
Thailand.

It is believed that people need the birds' legendary cooing to
relieve their restless minds of the stress arising from the
various problems that the economic crisis has wrought.

Among the local community, the Bangkok turtle dove is so
popular that the soft melodious bird is dubbed the "aristocrat's
bird". Due to the high price it commands, only the wealthy can
afford to buy it.

"Had the economic crisis not occurred, I'm sure I wouldn't
have been able to buy a house," said the beaming Ujang, a
50-year-old turtle dove breeder who has been in the business for
seven years in Yogyakarta.

"Apparently, people like listening to their bird as they drink
coffee at home during this crisis," he said with a smile.

When the crisis broke in July 1997, Ujang thought his business
would go bankrupt because the plunging value of the rupiah
against the U.S. dollar had cut people's buying power.

"But strangely, four months after the crisis began, my turtle
doves sold like hot cakes," the father of eight recalled.

Ujang, a Sundanese migrant from Tasikmalaya, West Java,
bought a house, a Suzuki Carry minibus and 5,000 square meters of
land which he has turned into a bird farm from selling four
turtle doves.

Three of the four turtle doves were of the jawara caliber,
meaning they had once emerged as winners in regional turtle dove
contests.

Ujang said before he moved to Yogyakarta, he had worked in a
turtle dove breeding farm where he learned the ABC of the
business. He started his own business in Yogyakarta with several
pairs of turtle doves he bought in Thailand for his former
company. Now he has about 700 birds on his farm.

Before the crisis, Ujang said, he could sell only three birds
a month at between Rp 100,000 and Rp 1 million each. A jawara
sold at only about Rp 5 million then.

After the crisis struck, he could sell between 10 and 20 birds
a day and his monthly turnover has risen to about Rp 20 million,
he said.

The dramatic surge in the demand for the singing bird has also
been reported by owners of larger turtle dove breeding farms.
Mohamad Hasan, also known by his Chinese name Law Haw Chien, has
reported a 300 percent increase in demand.

Hasan, who owns Andalas Bird Farm, said so high was the demand
that he has almost run out of chicks and some customers are
willing to wait for several weeks although the price for a high-
grade chick is between Rp 5 million and Rp 10 million.

The company has its farm in Jakarta.

"The existing chicks are just too young to be separated from
their mothers," he said, adding that he, too, was surprised by
the extraordinarily high demand.

Another big name in the industry is Edward Luison, who runs a
turtle dove breeding establishment Gunung Mas Bird Farms in
Tasikmalaya. He sets the minimum price for a chick at Rp 10
million. Luison claims his monthly turnover is Rp 400 million,
making it the largest bird breeding firm in Indonesia.

The second largest is thought to be the Bandung-based Leo Bird
Farm, whose monthly sales he estimates to have soared from Rp 200
million before the crisis began to Rp 350 million since.

For a turtle dove fanatic, his pride will be ensured when his
bird wins a singing contest. Traders also have great interest in
such a contest because the more the birds they have sold win
contests, the more popular they will be.

Contests are usually divided into three categories, local,
regional and national levels.

A turtle dove which wins a local contest may fetch between Rp
2.5 million and 20 million. One emerging champion in a regional
contest -- for example at the Central Indonesia level -- will
carry a Rp 10 - Rp 50 million price tag while a national champion
may go for up to Rp 450 million.

A turtle dove named after the nation's badminton queen Susi
Susanti belonging to Gunung Mas Bird Farm was offered at Rp 450
million after it won a national contest. Susi's achievement has
reportedly helped to drive up the price of its peers.

The reputation of Andalas Bird Farm has also been flying high
since one of its birds named "Bukan Basa Basi" (Not Just Lip
Service) won national contests four times.

Bangkok turtle doves sell for higher prices than local ones
although their true origin is always debatable. Many people well-
versed in the bird business say that any good doves will be
touted by their sellers as "Bangkok" doves.

Bird business people claim that around 4,000 turtle doves are
imported from Bangkok through Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya
every month. On the market, each pair of imported birds sells at
no less than Rp 1 million.

The backgrounds of turtle dove lovers range from city bus
drivers, government officials, business people and farmers. Gusti
Prabu, a relative of Sultan Hamengku Buwono X is known to be a
turtle dove fanatic.

Traders say that low-income people would buy birds priced at
below Rp 1 million while the middle and upper class people will
be after birds worth Rp 2.5 million and above, including prize-
winning ones.

For the wealthy, price is no problem.

"Price comes after quality. So long as the bird is good, the
price is not the issue," said Tedy, a bird lover from Jakarta.

Haji Muidin, a timber trader and a turtle dove enthusiast from
Kalimantan, claims he did not mind spending Rp 100 million or
more for a prize winning jawara.

"So long as the turtle dove is of top quality, I can sell it
for an even higher price if I wish," he said when attending a
recent bird contest at Prambanan Temple, Central Java.