TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A university student from Lumajang, East Java was captured by the police after for hunting and killing a protected species.
On September 12, Ida Tri Susanti, a math major at Jember University, posted pictures on Facebook that showed her holding up two dead Bengal cats and a picture of three more; dead.
Bengal cats (Felis Bengalensis), also called Asian leopard cats sometimes, are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list, which means that it is a species protected by international laws. The Indonesian government also categorizes the Bengal cat as a protected species, as stipulated by PP No. 7/1999.
Unfair treatments against protected animals are strictly prohibited, as regulated in UU No. 5/1990.
On Sunday, October 18, the police began investigating the photos, coordinating with Protection of Forest & Fauna (ProFauna Indonesia) and the Jember Office for Natural Resources Conservation (KSDA). Within hours, Ida Tri Susanti was taken to custody to be questioned by the Jember resort police.
"Hunting and trading leopard cats are illegal. Those who commit such a crime are could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison," Swasti Prawidya Mukti, ProFauna's campaign manager, said in a statement posted to ProFauna's official website.
At least two similar crimes have occurred this year. On September 29, a man from Makassar posted pictures of him killing and mutilating Bengal cats to the internet. The photos were uploaded to a Facebook account under the name Aghaa Karebaa Sandall Jepidswallo.
Another Facebook account belonging to Rrahhmmatt Budiimann from Bengkulu have photos of him and his friends skinning dead Bengal cats. The photos were posted on October 15, triggering public outcries.
PROFAUNA.COM | MAYA AYU PUSPITASARI | BC | RIRIE RANGGASARI
