Jakarta Globe, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, Jan 30, 2015
Jakarta.
Environmental group Protection of Forest and Fauna, or ProFauna, celebrated
Indonesian Primate Day on Thursday with a nationwide campaign advocating for an
end to the trade of primates in Indonesia, particularly those that are
endangered.
The group
said three protected primates are widely traded as pets in Indonesia, mainly
through online forums and chatrooms: the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus
javanicus), the Javan lutung (Trachypithecus auratus) and the silvery gibbon
(Hylobates moloch).
All three
“are popular with buyers because they are considered cute,” ProFauna spokesman
Swasti Prawidya Mukti said.
The Javan
slow loris is listed as “critically endangered” by International Union for Conservation
of Nature due to rapidly declining habitat and poaching.
The same
organization listed the Javan lutung as vulnerable and the silvery gibbon as
endangered.
The three
species is protected by law, but this has done little to actually protect them,
Swasti said, such as enforcement of poaching laws.
“The trade
[in protected primates] is no longer done in markets, but has moved online,”
she said, adding that the primates are usually sold as babies, and often had
their teeth clipped by poachers; adults, particularly lorises, can be quite
aggressive.
Protected
primates usually fetch between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million ($240 and $400)
online, while non-protected one like the long-tailed macaques sell for around
Rp 300,000.
ProFauna
has lobbied several major online forums in Indonesia to ban users from trading
endangered species, with mixed results.
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