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WWF: Coffee Threatens Indonesian Animals

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011601579.html

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Coffee beans exported to the West are being illegally grown inside an Indonesian national park, threatening the habitat of endangered tigers, elephants and rhinos, the WWF said Wednesday.

Around 19,600 tons of coffee from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park on Sumatra Island are mixed with legally grown beans by local traders and exported each year, according to the global conservation organization.

"If this trend of clearing park land for coffee isn't halted, the rhinos and tigers will be locally extinct in less than a decade," Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia's Director of Policy and Corporate Engagement, said in a statement.

"We think even the world's most committed coffee drinkers will find this an unacceptable price to pay for their daily caffeine buzz."

WWF said several Western food and drink companies were buying the illegal beans.

The group said it had told the companies of its findings. Some denied buying the tainted coffee, while others were discussing how to avoid buying it in the future, the group said.

Bukit Barisan Selatan is one of the few protected areas where Sumatran tigers, Sumatran elephants and Sumatran rhinos coexist. It is one of the most important habitats left for the three, all endangered or critically endangered species, the WWF said.

Indonesia is the world's second-largest exporter of robusta coffee, which is often used in instant coffee and packaged coffee sold in supermarkets.

Animal Rescue Center Closed Due to Lack of Funds

http://www.orangutan.net/archives/100

PARC was the last center of its kind surviving on funding by donor foundations and the governments.

PARC project manager Iwan Kurniawan said the difficult decision was made because the Gibbon Foundation, a charity organization, had stopped funding the center’s rare species and the central government had cut off funding for its operational activities.

“The rare and endangered species have been handed over to Indonesia Safari Park II in Prigen, Pasuruan, Jatim Recreational Park and Malang Municipal Recreational Park,” Iwan said.

Four other animal rescue centers funded by the Gibbon Foundation and the government have closed down over the past few years.

The others were operated in the Yogyakarta regency of Kulonprogo, the Bali regency of Tabanan, the South Sulawesi district of Tasikoki and Tegalalur in Jakarta.

The only rescue center that has survived economic hardship and that complies with international standards set by the CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) is the Cikananga Animal Rescue Center, which is fully funded by the West Java provincial government.

Iwan said the government’s decision to stop funding the center had set back the conservation of protected species by a decade.

“With the closure, the government put all the rare species rescued from illegal trade and smuggling into zoological gardens, whose missions are not purely conservation,” said Iwan.

Indonesia has ratified the CITES, which requires all member countries to set up conservation centers, including transit zones for rescued animals before they are released back into the wild.

Iwan said PARC began running short of funds in June after the government, through the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA), stopped operational funds for the 2.5 hectare center. The Gibbon Foundation took a similar step also this year.

The center, which opened in 2001, was home to 100 rare and endangered species of primates and birds seized from illegal owners.

The Gibbon Foundation was initially committed to funding all the centers, donating US$6,000 per month to each, but problems began to surface after five years of operation, Iwan said.

But head of East Java BKSDA, Sumarto, denied the center had stopped operations. He said the remaining species would be cared for in the zoological gardens, which are partners of BKSDA.

“Of course, we have a problem with operational funds but all the species will be protected consistently and all staff tasked to take care of them will be paid fairly,” he said.

He acknowledged that BKSDA was seeking to team up with ProFauna, another wildlife conservation NGO, to take over PARC.

International ProFauna founder Rosek Nursahid said his organization would establish a conservation center and BKSDA would provide land for the endangered and wild animals to be released and protected.

(Source: The Jakarta Post)

Javan Gibbon Is Critically Endangered

© Dawn M. Smith

Jul 16, 2008
Javan Gibbon, Lip Kee Yap
Slowing the rate of deforestation will be key to survival of this silvery ape. Javan gibbons from the pet trade become part of captive breeding or translocation programs.

An ever increasing human population is putting pressure on Indonesia’s forests. One of the 14 species of gibbon, the Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) is in serious danger of becoming extinct as those forests disappear. The human fascination with exotic pets, especially primates, is another problem for Javan gibbons.
The Javan or Silvery Gibbon

The only critically endangered gibbon in Indonesia, the Javan or Silvery Gibbon, is restricted to small areas of western and central Java. These gibbons live in monogamous family groups with parents and juvenile offspring making up the social structure. They live almost entirely in the trees and can be highly aggressive to other gibbons entering their territory.
Javan Gibbons in the Pet Trade

Taking infant Javan gibbons for illegal trade as pets is a significant problem for two reasons. The obvious one is the loss of the young of the year from the population, reducing the potential future reproductive rate for the species.

But the method of capture presents an even bigger threat. Females are killed so the babies can be taken easily. Only limited numbers of wild animals survive to adulthood. Reproductive rates quickly drop if too many breeding age females are killed. Younger females may breed in this situation but they are often less able to rear their young properly.
Deforestation of Gibbon Habitat

Sadly, Indonesia has the world’s highest deforestation rate. These losses directly affect the Javan gibbons who need the fruit from the trees for food and the safety of the forest canopy for survival. As with the Hoolock gibbon, fragmentation of forest areas inhibits movement for the Javan species. This adds to the reduction in genetic diversity, as these monogamous primates are unable to join new social groups when they reach adulthood.
Efforts to Save the Javan Gibbon

Slowing the rate of deforestation, in particular reducing the fragmentation of forested areas by creating national parks and reserves and providing alternative means of employment and food production for the growing human population of Indonesia are the primary focus of Javan gibbon conservation work.

Nearly half of the wild population lives in three protected areas- Gunung Halimun National Park, Gunung Salak Protected Forest and Gunung Gede-Pangrango National Park. The areas are part of an integrated conservation management program which is attempting to maintain and increase their size and the wildlife corridors between them. As the area provides drinking water to Jakarta, the country’s capital, even those who have no interest in wildlife have a stake in maintaining the watershed.

Javan gibbons confiscated from the illegal pet trade, or voluntarily given up when awareness and outreach programs are successful, are being cared for at the Javan Gibbon Centre. While many of the confiscated gibbons will not be able to be returned to the wild, the young of those that reproduce may be used in reintroduction programs once genetic information is obtained.

''Lost World'' of New Species Found in Indonesia

The animal is the rarest arboreal, jungle-dwelling kangaroo in the world, the researchers say. This was the first time the mammal was found in Indonesia, making it only the second site in the world where the species is known to exist.

The kangaroo was discovered on an expedition in the Foja Mountains of Indonesia.

The National Geographic Society, Conservation International, and the Biology Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences supported the expedition.

Activists to curb illegal slaughter

Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Animal rights activists have vowed to step up inspections of animal slaughtering practices in Bali to prevent the island from adopting the illegal methods used elsewhere.

The activists said it was part of their overall campaign to increase public awareness about animal rights.

"We condemn illegal animal slaughter practices and therefore we will do our best to prevent these practices from reaching the island," I Wayan Mudiarta of the Yudhistira Swarga Foundation told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said illegal animal slaughter, which was mostly motivated by profit, was a common practice in many regions in Java, especially during periods of high demand for meat such as Ramadan.

Illegal practices include forcing excessive amounts of water into a cow's mouth in a bid to increase the carcass's weight after slaughter.

Another practice is injecting formaldehyde into chicken carcasses to prevent the meat from decaying.

"I once visited an illegal slaughterhouse in Central Java where the workers slaughtered cows that way. It was horrible," said Mudiarta, a veterinarian.

He said these practices not only tormented the cattle but also reduced the quality of the meat.

"Meat produced from such slaughter is actually not worth consuming," Mudiarta said.

To raise awareness of animal rights, the foundation organized street theater and a photo exhibition in Puputan Badung square on Sunday.

A group of 30 animal rights activists wore animal costumes. They put up banners asking people to start paying attention to the issue.

Mudiarta said the foundation would coordinate with local livestock husbandry officials in conducting the inspections.

"Besides regular checks, we will arrange more snap inspections on slaughterhouses around the island to find out whether or not they are applying the right procedures while slaughtering the animals," he said.

Established in 1998 by Balinese veterinarian Listriani Wistawan and her American friend Sherry Grant, the Yudhistira Foundation is an organization that brings together individuals and veterinarians to improve animal rights on the island.

The foundation's name, Yudhistira Swarga, comes from the last chapter of the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. It tells the story of Yudhistira, the prince of truth, who refused to enter heaven after Lord Indra denied entry to Yudhistira's sole companion -- a skinny, mangy dog. The prince argued the dog had earned its place in heaven for completing the long journey there.

Bali Livestock Husbandry Agency head Ida Bagus Alit said he welcomed every effort to protect the island from illegal slaughter practices.

"We will support each other. I need feedback from people who notice such practices if there are any," he said Tuesday.

He said that his agency had not found any slaughterhouses in Bali using the illegal slaughter practices.

However, he said he had ordered his subordinates to conduct more thorough and regular inspections of all slaughterhouses across the island.

"I agree with the prevention. Of course we don't want such practices to be used here also," he said.