Say No to Wildlife Trade!

SURYA Online, MALANG - A wildlife conservation organization, ProFauna Indonesia, claimed that around 95 percent of animals kept by people were captured from the wild; only 5 percent comes from breeding centers. The chairman of ProFauna Indonesia, Rosek Nursahid, said that ProFauna's data related to this issue comes from their surveys upon several online trading sites like Tokobagus.com, KASKUS, and Berniaga.com. The survey found that there are active wildlife trading forums on those sites.  

 "We have advised them to remove wildlife trading forums. Tokobagus has put a filter in its system, while KASKUS is working on it," added Rosek after "STOP Wildlife Trade" campaign at Jalan Besar Ijen, last Sunday (6/10/2013).

He explained that the 5 percent of the animals coming from breeding centers is dominated by warblers. Meanwhile, mammals, reptiles, and many kinds of parrots are captured from the wild. This is undeniable because until now there are no mammals, reptile, or parrot breeders who have reported their breeding result.  "This condition proves that most animals sold as pets were forcefully taken from their natural habitat," said Rosek.

The head of the Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of Malang, Dedi Sudiana, claimed that they have taken notes of the activities of 'animal lover' communities in Malang. He reckons that most animals kept as pets by people are not the protected species. However, there are some people who kept protected wildlife species as pets, and no actions have been taken on this issue.  "We found a person in Malang who keeps a Changeable Hawk-eagle, a Cockatoo, a Black-capped Lory, and a Peafowl in his house. We have reported him to the head of BKSDA Area 6 Probolinggo and asked them for a joint operation with the police. Until now we do not get any response," avowed Dedi.