17/006/2005 – Orang-utans
and gibbons are still traded and kept as pets
in Java and Bali despite having been legally
protected in Indonesia since 1931, according
to a new report from TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network.
The report – In Full Swing, An Assessment
of Trade in Orang-utans and Gibbons on Java
and Bali, Indonesia – calls for greater awareness
among Indonesia's judiciary, enforcement agencies,
and general public to ensure that trade in
the endangered primates is treated as a serious
crime.
Based on analyzed data from 1994–2003 on
information collected from 35 wildlife markets
in 22 cities across the two islands, TRAFFIC
investigators found a total of 559 orang-utans
and gibbons during the surveys, many on sale
or being illegally traded in “bird markets”
locally known as pasar burung. The actual
numbers of animals sold from the markets,
however, are largely unknown.
“Better monitoring of wildlife markets would
enable more accurate analysis of the trade
in primates as well as other wildlife species
that continue to be sold in these markets,”
said James Compton, Director of TRAFFIC Southeast
Asia.
“This would definitely help increase the efficiency
of law enforcement.”
Orang-utans and gibbons are listed in Appendix
I of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), prohibiting any international trade
in these animals. Under Indonesian law, orang-utans
and gibbons are classified as “protected”,
which forbids capturing, killing, possessing,
and trading these species. Penalties for breaking
the law can total up to IDR100 000 000 (US$10,455)
in fines and up to five years of imprisonment.
However, the TRAFFIC report found that people
who hunt, keep, and trade in orang-utans and
gibbons are rarely punished. In all, fewer
than 10 per cent of all persons that had specimens
confiscated from them were actually prosecuted.
It appears that many law enforcement personnel,
including judges and prosecutors, do not see
trade in or possession of protected species
as pets as a serious offence.
“A large-scale awareness building and education
programme targeting general public and law
enforcement officials should be set up to
increase the understanding of the protected
status of wildlife, and effectiveness of law
enforcement in the field,” said Dr Mubariq
Ahmad, CEO of WWF-Indonesia.
“Trade must be addressed in conjunction with
increased protection of the lowland forest
ecosystems that form the habitat of orang-utans
and gibbons particularly in Borneo and Sumatra.”
The report also found that from the estimated
40,000 wild population of the Borneo orang-utan,
trade on Java and Bali alone may be contributing
to an annual loss rate which corresponds to
up to some 1,000 individuals a year, or one
to three orang-utans a day. This does not
necessarily include loss due to habitat destruction.
“Indonesia is fully committed to step up
enforcement at major exit and entry points
which is clearly needed to ensure that species
are not smuggled out of Sumatra and Kalimantan
to other countries or within Indonesia, to
Java and Bali," said Adi Susmianto, the
Director of Biodiversity Conservation at PHKA,
Indonesia’s CITES Management Authority.
"More importantly, the habitat of the
orang-utans and gibbons must be protected
to stop such endangered species from being
poached.”
Both orang-utans and gibbons are hunted and
traded to satisfy persistent demand for pets.
Orang-utans are the most expensive primates
for sale in the markets of Indonesia and are
kept in households as status symbols. Orang-utans
are also in trade for the entertainment industry.
In November 2003, the Thai Authorities seized
115 orang-utans from the premises of Safari
World in Bangkok and the source of these great
apes was reportedly from Indonesia. The case
is ongoing, and the Indonesian government
has requested the repatriation of the remaining
orang-utans from Thailand on a number of occasions.
“The general public needs to understand that
buying and keeping an orang-utan or gibbon
as a pet is contributing to the depletion
of wild populations,” added Compton.
“Not only is it against the law to purchase
and keep these animals in Indonesia, but it
is destroying the country’s precious natural
heritage.”
END NOTES:
• Orang-utans and gibbons are found in the
tropical rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo.
There are two known species of orang-utans:
the Bornean Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) and
the Sumatran Orang-utan (P. abelii). The seven
species of gibbons that were surveyed for
the report include: Javan gibbon (Hylobates
moloch), Agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis),
Bornean white-bearded gibbon (H. albibarbis),
Muller’s gibbon (H. muelleri), white-handed
gibbon (H. lar), Kloss gibbon (H. klossi),
and Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus). All
these gibbon species occur in Indonesia. The
Kloss Gibbon is endemic to the Mentawai islands
off Sumatra,while the Bornean White-bearded
Gibbon and the Mueller Gibbon are endemic
to Borneo.
• The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) regulates international trade in more
than 30,000 species of wild animals and plants.
The Convention is currently applied in 167
nations, including Indonesia. Orang-utans
and all gibbons are listed under CITES Appendix
I.
• TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network – a joint programme of WWF and IUCN–The
World Conservation Union – works to ensure
that trade in wild plants and animals is not
a threat to the conservation of nature.
