Police, BKSDA Tackle Illegal Wildlife Trading in East Java
25 January 2015 15:16 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The joint force of Malang Resort Police and East Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BB BKSDA) raided Sukron’s (22 years old) house in Wadung Village, Malang, on Friday to thwart illegal wildlife trading.
“Five rare animals are confiscated to be used as evidence,” said an officer of East Java BB BKSDA Dheny Mardiono on Saturday.
The confiscated animals include one Javan lutung (Trachypithecus auratus) black-caped lory (Lorius lory), one salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua molucensis), two yellow-crested cockatoos (Cacatua sulphurea), and two oriental pied horbills (Anthracoceros albirostris). One baby Javan lutung was found dead in the raid.
The culprits are selling the rare animals via a closed group on Facebook to markets located in Jakarta and Semarang. According to Dheny, the illegal traders acquired their collection from the hunters. It is suspected that the animals were hunted from protected forests and national parks in East Java.
As many as 3,640 advertisements offering various kinds of wild animals were found posted on the social media during the 2014.
EKO WIDIANTO