Cracking down on the smugglers

Illegal orangutan trade: three arrested
24/06/2010 10:10:23

Cracking down on the smugglers

June 2010: Three people have been arrested and charged with attempting to sell a baby orangutan after a raid by Indonesian authorities. This is one of the first cases in many years against suspected illegal orangutan dealers in Indonesia, and possibly the first case ever in Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo. It represents a continuing rise in action against the illegal trade in wildlife in Indonesia. In the last two years there have been more than 20 arrests for illegally possessing or trading protected wildlife, including endangered Sumatra tigers, and pangolins.


The raid in Pontianak took place on June 21 and recovered a live baby orangutan that was about six months old. Young orangutans are favoured by dealers, and their mothers are often killed in the process of capturing them. The baby orangutan confiscated during this raid is now being cared for at the International Animal Rescue facility in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

The raid was conducted by the Indonesian Department of Forestry, Directorate-General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA), working in conjunction with the Anti-Wildlife Crime Forum, made up of WCS's Wildlife Crime Unit and local partners. The Wildlife Crime Unit, created by WCS in 2003, provides data and technical advice to law enforcement agencies to support the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes.
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'I hope this will send a warning to others involved'

Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation for the Indonesian Department of Forestry, Mr Ir Darori M.M, expressed appreciation to the officers that took part in the raid: ‘This is an important case and an impressive result. I hope this will send a warning to others involved in the illegal trade in protected wildlife in Indonesia that it will not be tolerated,' said Mr Darori. ‘I urge state prosecutors to focus now on the prosecution of this case.'

WS

It will be interesting to see if we can follow up on the prosecution of this case WS, where did the info come from? I am just wondering how hard they will come down on these people.
It's good that they are sending a message to smugglers that smuggling wildlife will not be tolerated. It's good news they found the baby orangutan and it is safe but it would have been better off with it's mother, orangutans are sensitive souls and can suffer depression so I hope the little one will be ok.
I am not sure if I remember this right but didn't or don't Monkey World in Dorset often get involved in the smuggling trade in Indonesia to help rescue primates?

littlewid-x-

Let's hope they do something positive here to crack down on the dealers.

Thanks for the info WS

Lai

Im hoping that this is not just a trend, as we seem to be seeing more countries now taking action to protect the wildlife and their habitats. Do you think this is because there is more of a global outcry these days and they are starting to bow to world pressure?

I hope they maintain this stance against such dealers and this is not a token jesture?

SM

Agreed SM

Lai

Agree Doogs. Punishment is not severe enough, but my concern is that not enough countries/governments see it as a punishable offense. If we can change that mind set we are on the right track.

SM

Lai

WS, can you remember where you got this information from so that we can hopefully follow it up?

littlewid-x-

What you trying to say LW. Can I remember Errrr now let me see. It was I think Hmmm from
http://twitter.com/orangutans/status/17008927097 Love the background

and
http://www.wcs.org/press/press-releases/baby-orang-rescue.aspx

and
http://www.wcsip.org/indonesia-stepsup-fight-illegal-orangutan-trade/

and
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=1&listitemid=7744#cr

Seriously I think we should ckeck any of these links to see if there's anymore news in the future
WS