ProFauna Investigates Sun Bear Slaughter Viral on Facebook
26 September 2015 12:46 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Samarinda - Following a photo that shows sun bear slaughtering that goes viral on Facebook recently, Protection of Forest&Fauna (ProFauna) in Borneo is stepping up to investigate the information. The photo was first uploaded on September 24, 2015 by Facebook account named Ronal Cristoper Ronal.
In the photo, Ronal is seen slaughtering a sun bear by a river alongside two other men. The caption for the photo says “catch of the day”. From its profile page, it is known that the Facebook account owner works at government’s Population and Civil Registry in Tenggarong, Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan province.
“Yes, we are studying the information, we will report to East Kalimantan Regional Police (Polda) and East Kalimantan Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA),” said Bayu Sandi, Coordinator of ProFauna Borneo when contacted on Friday, September 25.
Bayu said that he and his team were on the way to Samarinda and Balikpapan for investigation and reporting.
Sun bear is the world’s smallest bear species that continues to decrease in population due to poaching, illegal trading and less forest habitation. In 2014, Berau Resort Police in East Kalimantan arrested a group of poachers after one of them uploaded a photo of him skinning a sun bear to Facebook. People contributed to the arrest by actively sharing the information.
FIRMAN HIDAYAT