Rare Booted Macaques Evacuated from Kendari
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The Southeast Sulawesi Natural Resources Agency (BKSDA) has evacuated several booted macaques (Macaca ochreata), a rare species of the Old World monkeys from the Macaca genus, that was trapped in the center of Kendari city.
It took two days to evacuate the primates, with officers resorting to use traps and whatever equipment they had on hand. They didn’t use stun guns out of fear of hurting the macaques if they fell from the trees they hid in.
"The monkeys had been seen on the trees near an area that was once the Kendari MTQ since five days ago. They looked famished and very think, and were too scared to come near officers who tried to give them food," said Sahidin, the KSDA Resort chief for South Konawe area, Friday.
Sahidin assumed the macaques entered the city because they got lost after being chased away by residents in the outskirts.
He also said that there were five macaques spotted in the Kendari MTQ area, but a man shot one dead using an air rifle. The BKSDA and the Forest Rangers are currently looking for the shooter.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) puts Macaca ochreata in its red list of endangered species whose populations keep declining.
Sahidin said that Law No.5/1990 on the Conservation of Biological Resources and Their Ecosystems regulates that animal killers can face a sentence of five years in prison.
The rescued macaques will be given treatments, said Sahidin. After they healed, they would be released to the Tanjung Peropa Wildlife Sanctuary in South Konawe regency.