ILLEGAL TRADE OF PRIMATE

ILLEGAL TRADE OF

PRIMATE

International

Primate

Protection

League

International

Primate

Protection

League

TM

IN PALEMBANG - SOUTH SUMATERA

Introduction

Palembang City - SouthSumatera, is one of the mainhubs in wildlife trade networkin Indonesia. Like the otherbig cities, Palembang alsohas bird (animal/pet) markets.Although the bird markets aresmall, any kind of wildlife canbe found there. Besides forlocal buyers, the tradedwildlife are also smuggled tosome big cities in Java Island,especially Jakarta andYogyakarta.

Between March and May2012, ProFauna Indonesiawith the support of theInternational PrimateProtection League (IPPL),conducted a survey inPalembang to uncover theprimate trade in the capital ofSouth Sumatra Province. Thesurvey results were expectedto be used by related stakeholders or law enforcementagencies in order to enforcethe law and curb the trade.

2

Introduction

Primate Trade In PalembangSouth Sumatera

Slow loris(Nycticebus coucang)

Every month,dozens of slow lorises are traded

In Palembang, there are two birdmarkets: and .bird market is smaller than the

There are only seven stallsselling various kinds of birds in

market. ProFauna team didnot find any primate trade in thismarket. The majority of the tradedanimals included singing birds andpoultry. Apart from that, the teamalso found parrots being sold therelike: the Eclectus parrots (

), the black-capped lory( ), the rainbow lorikeet

Cinde 16 Ilir Cinde16

Ilir.

Cinde

EclectusroratusLorius lory

( ) andthe chattering lory (Loriusgarrulous).

market was pretty crowdedeven though there were only ninestalls. Most stalls sold various kindsof fish and poultry. There was onlyone stall selling mammals andprimates. On weekend, there aremany temporary street vendorsselling animals by the market. Mostof the street vendors came from thevillages nearby Palembang.

Trichoglossus haematodus

16 Ilir

3

Illegally Traded

Primate Trade In PalembangSouth Sumatera

In 16 Ilir bird market, there wasonly one trader who specializedin selling both primates andmammals. The trader wasnamed Ujang, went by onename as most Indonesians.Most of the traded animals inUjang's stall were protected bylaw. Besides working as traderin the market, Ujang also actedas a dealer to smuggle wildlifeto bird markets in Java Island.For the protected primates,especially the slow loris( ), Ujangsmuggled them tomarket in Jakarta. While for theeagles, he sent the illegalpackage by bus destined toJava.

Nycticebus spPramuka

The prices of the traded primates in market varied which dependedon sexes, ages, protection status, and supply. The more rare a species, themore expensive the price. Similarly, the younger the primate, the higherprices they can make. The most expensive is the price for a rare primatewhich is still young.

16 Ilir

Despite the small size, market is notorious as one of the hubs of theillegal wildlife trade in Sumatra. It was easy to find the following mostly tradedprimates:slow loris ( ), long-tailed monkey ( ),gibbon ( ), Bornean white-bearded gibbon (

), and the Javan langur ( ). It was easy as well tofind the commonly traded mammals such as deer ( )), pangolin( ), and the Asian palm civet ( ).

16 Ilir

Nycticebus sp Macaca fascicularisHylobates syndactylus Hylobates

agilis Trachypithecus auratusTragulus sp

Manis javanica Paradoxurus hermaphrodytus

A slow loris can cost 150,000 IDR(15 USD, 1 USD = 10,000 IDR),a siamang cost 2 millions, anda long-tailed monkey varied between100,000 and 150,000 IDR. Theyounger primates, the more expensivethey are than the adult monkeys.

16 Ilir market

A siamang tradedin 16 Ilir market, Palembang

4Primate Trade In PalembangSouth Sumatera

Referring to Ujang's stall in market, at least he was able to sell 20 slowlorises and 3 Javan langurs each month. He admitted to ProFauna's teamthat he could sell 50 slow lorises within one month. Most slow lorises aresmuggled to Jakarta. The price for a siamang depended on the supply.However, Ujang could sell at least one siamang in a month.

16 Ilir

The cages used to confine the traded primates in market wereinappropriate. The cages measured 50 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm. In the crampedcages, there were too many individuals. The team found 10 slow lorisescramped in a small cage. During the survey held in March 2012, the teamalso saw a young siamang look very stressed and sufferred in a small cage.

16 Ilir

Table 1. Number and species of the traded animalsin 16 Ilir market on March 2012 visit

16 Ilir market

Table 2. Number and species of the traded animalsin Cinde market on March 2012 visit

No Common names Scientific names Total Price (IDR)

3

5

7

4

15

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

Eclectus parrot

Black-capped lory

Rainbow lorikeet

Chattering lory

White-rumped shama

Orange-headed thrush

Eclectus roratus

Lorius lory

Trichoglossus haematodus

Lorius garrulus

Copsychus malabaricus

Zoothera citrina

1.500.000

1.500.000

800.000

800.000

400.000

400.000-1.000.000

No Common names Scientific names Total Price (IDR)

23

1

3

1

5

7

3

1

1

1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Slow loris

Siamang

Javan langur

Long-tailed macaque

Mouse deer

Asian palm civet

Crested serpent eagle

White-bellied sea eagle

Black-winged kite

White-fronted scops-owl

Nycticebus sp

Hylobates syndactylus

Trachypithecus auratus

Macaca fascicularis

Tragulus sp

Paradoxurus hermaphrodytus

Spilornis cheela

Haliaeetus leucogaster

Elanus caeruleus

Otus sagittatus

150.000 200.000

2.000.000

150.000

100.000

700.000

50.000 100.000

200.000

250.000

150.000

150.000

-

-

5Primate Trade In Palembang

South Sumatera

The traded primates came fromNature Conservation areas

The primates traded onmarket in Palembang came fromvarious regions in South Sumatraand also came from other provincessuch as Jambi Province. At themajority, the primates came from thebordering areas of the

National Park. The regionsincluded Muara Dua, Pagar Alam,Lahat, and Ogan Komering Ilir.

16 Ilir

Bukit BarisanSelatan

Especially for the Sumatran surili( ), tradersin market admitted thatthey liked to sell the onescoming from the regions ofPagar Alam, Lahat, and MuaraDua because the primate hadmore attractive hair color whichcaused the prices to be moreexpensive.

Presbytis melalophos16 Ilir

The traded primates in Palembangwere sold not only for pet animalsbut they were also consumed fortheir meat and brain. The specieswhich was sold for the meat andbrain was the long-tailed macaque( ). Buyers ofthese by-products were the sailors/crew members from China,Taiwan, Vietnam, and Korea.When their ships docked inPalembang ports, they would go to

market to buy the monkeys.The poor monkeys were usuallybutchered in the bird market or

Macaca fascicularis

16 Ilir

sometimes they were taken andkilled in their ships.

The sailors would then only take themonkey brain, which was believedas source of energy. The consumersliked the juvenile monkeys better.The prices of these monkeys werehigher than the monkeys for petanimals. As an illustration, a juvenilemonkey was sold for 100,000 IDR to200,000 IDR if it was kept as petanimal but the price could go higheras much as 350,000 IDR if it was tobe butchered and taken its brain.

The trade ofprimate meatand brain

Primate origins

A monkey skullbefore cut inhalf for the brain.


Within a week, there were atleast 10 monkeys for sale inPalembang, either sold alive orto be butchered and taken theirbrain.

Besides holding survey to themonkey meat trade inPalembang, ProFauna teamalso conducted a survey inJakarta. The location of monkeymeat trade Jakarta wascentered on Mangga Besarstreet, Lokasari - West Jakarta.The monkey meat was sold inthe form of satay and shredded

meat. The satay was sold in the foodvendors on Mangga Besar street.

The sellers of the monkey meat there,usually also sold other wildlifedelicacies like meat from monitorlizard, snakes, and bats. Besides themonkey meat, the sellers also servedmonkey brain per request.

According to a monkey satay seller inJakarta, the monkey meat had manybenefits: monkey satay for energysupplement, shredded monkey meatfor appetizer, and monkey brain foraphrodisiac effects.

Trade of primate

A long-tailed macaqueslaugtered for the brain.


South Sumatera

The prices of the monkey meat byproducts varied depending on thetype. A dish (10 sticks) of monkeysatay was 40,000 IDR. A pack of theshredded monkey meat was 25,000IDR. A dish of monkey brain startedfrom 300,000 IDR to 500,000 IDR. Inorder to check if the delicacies werereally made from monkey meat,ProFauna Indonesia brought them tothe laboratory of Eijkman Institute andit resulted that the monkey satay wasreally made from the monkey meatwhile the shredded monkey meatturned out to be monitor lizard meat.

There were 4 food vendors sellingthese delicacies. According to one ofthe sellers, the monkeys came fromthe regions in Banten - West Java. He

admitted that he spent at leastthree monkeys in a week. It wasestimated that there were about50 monkeys butchered for satayand the shredded meat for theconsumption in Jakarta.

Buyers of the monkey brain inPalembang differed from theones in Jakarta. If the buyers inPalembang were sailors fromChina, Taiwan, and Koreawhose ships docked in the ports;the consumers in Jakarta weremostly men because theybelieved in the aphrodisiaceffects. It was believed thateating monkey brain mixed withtraditional wine could treat maleimpotence.

Trade of primate

A food stall in Jakartaselling monkey satay


Lack of Law Enforcement

According to the wildlife law inIndonesia, the trade in protectedspecies is a crime. Referring toLaw No. 5 year 1990 concerningthe Conservation of NaturalResources and Ecosystems,article 21 paragraph 2 (a); it isprohibited to capture, injure, kill,keep, own, pet, transport, andtrade alive protected animals.Article 40 paragraph (2) of the lawstates that the maximum

punishment is 100 million fine and 5 yearimprisonment.

Ironically, some protected primatespecies such as slow loris and siamangare still sold freely on the marketin Palembang. The trade should havebeen strictly curbed. Not to mention thatmost of the protected primates werepoached from the protected natureconservation areas which should havebeen safe havens for them.

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Table 3. Type and price of monkey meat by-products in Jakarta

No Types Prices (IDR)

A food stall in Jakartaselling monkey satay


South Sumatera

1

2

3

Satay

Shredded meat

(turned to be monitor lizard meat)

Brain

40,000-100,000 per dish

25,000-50,000 per pack

300,000-500,000

Although the long-tailed macaque ( ) is not yetprotected by law, the capture of the primate has been regulated.According to Law Number 41 Year 1999 on Forestry, article 50paragraph 3 letter m mentioned:

Macaca fascicularis

Violators of Law No. 41 of 1999are liable to a maximum of oneyear imprisonment and a fine of50 million IDR. ProFaunabelieves that most of the tradedmonkeys are poached from theforestry areas instead of captivebred. Therefore, the trade of themonkey meat should beregulated with a certain catchingquota and permission.Meanwhile, the catching quotain 2012 as issued by theForestry Department are onlyfive individuals.

Everybody isprohibited from

issuing, carrying, ortransporting plantsand or wildlife that

are not protected bylaw from theforestry area

without permissionof the related

authority


Long-tailed macaque( )Macaca fascicularis


ProFauna Recommendation

The illegal trade of primates and otherprotected wildlife in market inPalembang market was very high. Theanimals were also smuggled to big citiesin Java. The enforcement agenciesshould curb the trade firmly as the tradeviolates the Law number 5 year 1990.

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The trade of monkey meat and brainin Palembang and Jakarta was veryalarming because it was cruel and itwas also believed that the tradedmonkeys were poached from theforestry areas. For this reason, thelocal government should issue aregulation that prohibits the trade ofprimate meat and other body parts.

2

Recommendation

Slow loris(Nycticebus coucang)


South Sumatera

International PrimateProtection League

P.O. Box 766 SummervilleSC 29484 USA

Phone: 843-871-2280Fax: 843-871-7988

email:website:

[email protected]

The trade of wildlife protected by law is a crime. According to LawNumber 5 year 1990 concerning the Conservation of the NaturalResources and the Ecosystem, offenders of protected wildlifetrade and keeping are liable to five year prison term and 100

millions Rupiah fine.

ProFauna Indonesia

[email protected]

Jl. Raya Candi II No. 179Klaseman, Karangbesuki, Malang,

Indonesia 65146Telp. +62 341 570033Fax. +62 341 569506

email: ,website:

International

Primate

Protection

League

International

Primate

Protection

League

TM

Documents

ILLEGAL TRADE OF PRIMATE