Orangutan Smoking Cigarettes

Orangutan are endangered animals which according to the Indonesian law must be protected from anything that might endanger its existence.

That's why I was very surprised when AFP reported that Orangutan are 'allowed to smoke in Indonesian  zoos' (below).

I hope that the zoo authority in Indonesia will clarify this disturbing report.

Orangutans 'allowed to smoke in Indonesian zoos'

JAKARTA — An activist said Saturday that orangutans in many of Indonesia's zoos were allowed to smoke as visitors could freely toss cigarettes to them without proper monitoring.

"Cigarettes are bad for orangutans' health. We demand the zoos closely monitor the orangutans," Centre for Orangutan Protection campaigner Hardi Baktiantoro told AFP.

"Orangutans can also smoke cigarettes because they tend to imitate human behaviour," he said.

Baktiantoro said the apes were able to receive any food or cigarettes thrown to them as there were no barriers between them and zoo visitors.

In Malaysia, an orangutan named Shirley that amused visitors by smoking cigarette butts thrown into her cage was being forced to go cold turkey after authorities seized the great ape from a state-run zoo last week.

The Attempt to Smuggle 40 Phytons

The Reticulated Python is a species of Phyton snake found in Indonesia and other South East Asian countries. They are the world's longest snakes and longest reptile, adults can grow up to 8.7 meter in length,  they are relatively slim for their length and are certainly not the most heavily built.

They are nonvenomous constrictors and normally not considered dangerous to humans. Although large specimens are powerful enough to kill an adult human, attacks are only occasionally reported. 

U.P.I reported that authorities at the Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta airport have arrested two men from Kuwait who tried to smuggle 40 Python snakes onto an Air Emirate flight heading for Dubai last Friday.

Both men, Yaqub Ebrahim and Ali Hasan, carry the snakes in sedated condition in their hand luggage onto the plane's cabin but authorities at the international departure checkpoint discovered the Phytons, which were then taken to the Airport's quarantine center.

Daily Mail quoted an airport security spokesman as saying that no animals are allowed to be brought onto an aircraft without permission and special handling. The animals are usually placed in the cargo hold instead of the passenger cabin. And Pythons snakes are among the animals banned.

The suspects would face up to seven years in jail if they are found guilty.

Photo: Courtesy of AFP.

The Dangerous Surabaya Zoo

A Zoo is a public facility where animals are supposed to live well protected and well fed.

Unfortunately, not all Zoos have good management that can take proper care of the animals living inside.
Some of them are even very badly managed that some of the endangered animals died.

Recently, a Sumatera Tiger, an African Lion and an Australian Kangaroo died because of hunger at the Zoo in Surabaya, East Java.  The 94 years old Zoo has an area of 15 Hectares and hold 4,200 animals including 13 other Sumatera Tigers kept in dirty and crumped cages. According to the Zoo's caretaker, hundreds of animals died every year and others suffer from hunger, stress and overcrowding. If there is no improvement, he's afraid that they will all die in 5 years.

Considering that most Zoos are under government supervision, I hope that these very shameful incidents would be investigated thoroughly and processed in the Court of Law..
 
For details, please read the following media reports :
-  Satwa di Kebon Binatang Terancam Punah Dalam 5 Tahun
-  Warning: All Animals at Indonesian zoo in danger.

Illegal Pet Trade

Endangered animals in Indonesia are protected by the Law No. 5/1990 which carries a sentence of  five years in jail or a fine of Rp.100 million.

In spite of this fact, there has been many media reports about the sales of endangered animals, one of which is reported by Associated Press/Google (below) about illegal pets that are traded openly at a Flora and Fauna Expo in Jakarta from 2 July until 2 August 2010.  

I hope that the authorities, i.e. Ministry of Environment and the Dept. of Forestry would make serious efforts to prevent such trade, although the endangered Pets sold at the said Expo originated from other countries.

Expo shows illegal pet trade rampant in Indonesia

By NINIEK KARMINI (AP) 

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The most threatened tortoise in the world is being sold openly at a plant and animal exposition in the heart of Indonesia's capital, highlighting concerns about the rampant — and growing — illegal pet trade.

The country has become a major trading hub for endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles, including species from Africa, South America and Asia, said Chris Shepherd of TRAFFIC, a British-based international wildlife monitoring network

He said the government has failed to follow up on repeated promises to crackdown.
Those found Friday at Jakarta's annual flora and fauna expo — held from July 2 until Aug. 2 — included the world's most threatened ploughshare tortoise and the critically endangered radiated tortoises, both from Madagascar and fetching around $150.

Cages also were filled with rare Indian star tortoises, which are protected under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species, known as CITES, and the endangered pig-nose tortoise, from Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, both selling for $1,500.

Vendors told The Associated Press other threatened tortoises and turtles not found on display could easily be obtained for a price.

"Recent surveys, and this expo, have shown that the trade continues and, in fact, now involves more illegally imported species than ever," said Shepherd. "Dealers know full well that it is illegal and are taking advantage of the enforcement agencies lack of action."

Indonesia, one of the most biologically diverse nations in the world, has for years sold everything from eagles and leopard cats to gibbons as pets in the capital, though often less openly. Shady transactions continue to take place in the back alleys of the popular Pramuka Market.

Villagers against Elephants

Massive deforestation in the Island of Sumatera has driven endangered Elephants away from their habitat

This situation has caused several incidents between those elephants and local villagers as reported by Business Week (below).

I hope that President SBY would accelerate his plan to replant forest and stop deforestation, so that the elephants and other endangered species could stay in their own habitat, and would not bother local villagers.

Villagers threaten to kill elephants in Indonesia
JAKARTA-INDONESIA

Villagers in western Indonesia have threatened to kill endangered Sumatran elephants unless something is done to stop the animals from trampling their crops, a local official said Monday.

A group of six elephants has destroyed several acres (hectares) of crops in the Trumon Timur region of Aceh province in the past few weeks, said Lahmudin, a sub-district chief who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

He said the villagers are fed up and ready to get rid of the animals.
"The villagers wanted to poison the elephants but for now they are listening to my appeal to be patient," Lahmudin said.

Abu Bakar Chekmat, the head of Aceh's conservation agency, questioned whether the villagers had encroached on the elephants' habitat.
"It is difficult to say who is right or wrong between humans and the animals," he said.

He said a team would be sent to the area to investigate and see what could be done.
Only 3,000 Sumatran elephants are believed to remain in the wild, a number that dwindles each year with poaching.

Endangered Orangutans, Tigers & Elephants in Sumatera

Temara is a 16 years old Orangutan born at the Zoo in Perth, Western Australia. And 3 years ago, she was released into the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, in Sumatera so that she can live peacefully with around 100 other Orangutans.

However, it seems that Temara and her friends would not be able to live peacefully very long. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted conservation groups like the World Life Fund (WWF) as saying that the Asia Pulp Paper (APP) & Sinar Mas Group have been granted license to use 300,000 hectares of forest surrounding the national park as source of raw material for their Pulp industry.

The sad thing is that the said unprotected forest is also the habitat of other wild life. Google Alert mentioned that the said forest is the home of 100 out of the last 400 endangered Sumatera Tigers in the wild, and around 50 Sumatera Elephants. Deforestation would force the Tigers and Elephants into closer contacts with villagers. This year, at least nine people have been killed by tigers on Sumatra, while villagers have killed four tigers.
However, APP’s Sustainable Director Aida Greenbury said that its plans to log forest areas around the national park would actually help the orangutans, not harm them. She said : "Well managed pulpwood plantations act as buffer zones, which have been proven to deter illegal logging -- this ensures that protected areas remain protected."

Considering the above, I hope that the central government in Jakarta as well as the local government will make sure that the license for APP and Sinar Mas would not disturb the Orangutans in the national park, also the Tigers and Elephants in the surrounding forest.