ARREST OF INDONESIAN TIGER TRAFFICKERS HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001136 SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/ENRC, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP USTR FOR MLINSCOTT, DBROOKS USAID FOR ANE, EGAT [CBARBER, MMELNICK] BANGKOK FOR RDM/A E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EAID ECON PGOV ID SUBJECT: ARREST OF INDONESIAN TIGER TRAFFICKERS HIGHLIGHTS CONSERVATION CHALLENGE REF: JAKARTA 328 ¶1. Summary. The recent arrest of four members of a tiger trading ring in North Sumatra underscores the threat facing the endangered Sumatran tiger. Although it was an example of successful cooperation between the police, forestry officials, and a locally active NGO, the arrests highlighted the wider, continuing, problem of illegal trade in wildlife throughout Sumatra. It might also reflect a shift in tiger poaching activity from southern to northern Sumatra. Other recent wildlife seizures by government officials underscore the problem. End Summary. Tiger Trafficking Ring Busted -------------- ¶2. On May 23, the police in Tina Binanga, North Sumatra, in cooperation with forestry officials from the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA),arrested four suspected members of a wildlife trafficking ring. The four, one of whom is a member of the military, had a complete tiger pelt and one handgun in their possession. The officials made the arrests and seizure with information provided by an ongoing undercover Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) investigation into the illegal tiger trade. An NGO spokesman claimed that the skin -- probably poached from Gunung Leuser National Park in Aceh -- was being shipped to Medan, North Sumatra, for sale for approximately $1400. WCS is following the case closely to try and secure prosecutions, working with local NGOs and journalists to keep the case in the media -- and public -- spotlight. Tiger Poachers Shifting to Northern Sumatra? -------------- ¶3. According to a member of WCS' Wildlife Conservation Unit in Lampung Province, southern Sumatra, the May 23 arrests indicates a trend: a movement of illegal tiger traffickers from southern to northern Sumatra. Other NGOs contest this claim. However, in a recent report, TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, found no trade in tiger parts in Lampung Province, although it found tiger parts that probably totaled 23 tigers (in 2006) in other Sumatran provinces (reftel). The apparent shift in poaching activity is supported by the fact that tiger poaching cases in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) in Lampung declined from 13 in 2003 to only 1 in 2007. However, the illegal trade in wildlife continues to be widespread throughout Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia. The Threat -------------- ¶4. Still, the threat is clear. One conservation NGO worker estimates that 66 Sumatran tigers have been killed in the last two years. WCS says it has unpublished information on the apparent deaths from poaching in Aceh of 47 tigers in the period 2006-2007. According to raw survey data that WCS is currently analyzing, there may actually have been an increase in BBSNP's tiger population. However, in Way Kambas National Park, also in Lampung Province, WCS project staff fear there has been a decline in the tiger population, probably due to poaching (reftel). More Wildlife Seizures -------------- ¶5. On June 2, officials from the Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA) office in Medan arrested two more suspected traffickers and seized two dead tiger cubs. Separately, in Kota Singkawang, Kalimantan Barat, BKSDA officials seized a mixture of 6,334 green turtle and hawksbill turtle eggs (both endangered species, and protected under Indonesian law) and arrested their owner. The owner admitted he had been engaged in the egg trade for the past year, obtaining eggs from hunters on various islands in Riau Province. HEFFERN