Wildlife poaching rampant in Lampung

Wildlife poaching rampant in Lampung

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung

Wildlife smuggling was out of control in Lampung, with syndicates
often using elderly women as couriers, two environmental
watchdogs said.

Lampung Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and
Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) investigations had found Lampung and
South Sumatra were regional hubs for the illicit trade, which
supplied animals to Jakarta and other large cities both locally
and overseas, BKSDA head Puja Utama said.

WCU activist Dwi Nugroho said the syndicates had been
operating in Sumatra and Java since the 1980s.

The Pramuka and Jatinegara markets in Jakarta were the main
trading places for protected wildlife. Couriers usually used
trains to carry the animals from South Sumatra to Tanjungkarang
and later continued by bus to Jakarta. The animals were put into
plastic crates, wooden boxes, bamboo baskets, cartons or bird
cages. From 10 to 20 percent of the animals would die from
suffocation on the journey, Dwi said.

The WCU had urged the Lampung provincial administration and
the police to crack down on the trade in Sumatra, he said.

Seven elderly women have been recently detained for allegedly
transporting protected wildlife, with 685 different species
confiscated from them by the Lampung BKSDA. An elderly man was to
be prosecuted at a Lampung court for wildlife smuggling but all
the women had been released by police, Dwi said.

The latest smuggler arrested was Juariyah, 62, who was caught
on Wednesday at Tanjungkarang railway station in possession of 55
protected animals -- 41 long-tailed macaques (Macaca
pascicularis), three short-tailed macaques (Macaca Nemestrina),
one simpai (Presbytis melalopos), eight kukang (Nyctycebus
councang), a napuh (Tragulus melalopos) and a moon civet cat
(Paguma Iarvata).

The simpai, kukang and napuh are protected under Law No.5,
1990 and Government Regulation No.7, 1999, while quotas for
culling macaques have not been issued since 2001.

Juariyah, of Bukitsari, Baturaja in South Sumatra and a vendor
at the Tempel market in Baturaja, said she was only delivering
the animals. She bought the animals from villagers in Baturaja
and a petshop owner in Mamat area, she said.

Juariyah was released after signing a letter promising not to
smuggle animals again.

Puja said she was released on conditions as it was her first
offense and because of her age.

Juariyah bought the macaques, kukang and simpai for between Rp
15,000 (US$ 1.6) and Rp 20,000 each. They would sell for between
Rp 25,000 and Rp 30,000. She would make about Rp 20,000 on the
napuh, with a market price of about Rp 50,000, and about Rp 5,000
on the civet cat, which would sell for Rp 15,000.

Primates such as the macaques, kukang, tarsius, sumatran
lutung, beruk, simpai, civet cats and rare bird species were
usually traded outside Sumatra, Puja said.

They were later sold for between Rp 100,000 (US$ 10.5) and Rp
350,000 an animal.