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Dec 3, 2005 (The New Straits Times online edition):

Recent arrests by Indian authorities have thrown a rather unflattering spotlight on an Indian sensation in Malaysia and this country's role in its popularity worldwide. Since wildlife department officers arrested 25-year-old R. Narayanan, widely known as the kingpin of the Indian Star Tortoise smuggling racket, they have discovered that most of the illegally captured tortoises were destined for Malaysia or were to be transported through this country.

Indian Star Tortoises are among the most popular exotic pets in Malaysia and among the most commonly available.

India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where these beautiful tortoises are found, have banned their capture and sale.

Initially held by Customs officials on suspicion of drug smuggling in late November, Narayanan was later handed over to the Wildlife Department when his connection to the tortoises was revealed.

Investigators discovered that Narayanan had purchased 1,660 tortoises from Andhra Pradesh, which he then tried to smuggle into Malaysia in suitcases.

In May, a Malaysian national was arrested trying to smuggle 200 tortoises, hidden in three pieces of luggage, from Kuala Lumpur to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. In September, a seizure of 350 tortoises was made at Chennai's Anna International Terminal from a Malaysian national.

He was apprehended while trying to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur with the tortoises hidden in his checked-in luggage.

Indian newspaper reports quote Wildlife authorities as saying that from Malaysia, the tortoises would go to different destinations including Singapore and the United States.

In 2004, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia released the report Demand Driven: The Trade of Indian Star Tortoises, Geochelone elegans in PeninsularMalaysia, which highlighted Malaysia as a major hub in the international illegal trade of this species.

The study's survey of 31 pet stores in Kuala Lumpur found more than three quarters sold them. The reptiles are often dehydrated, bound with tape and stuffed into stockings to limit movement and prevent detection. Many do not survive the journey.

International organisations that champion the cause of these tortoises, also say that 95 per cent of those in pet stores die within six months of being sold, because their owners fail to provide an adequate diet or keep them in unsuitable conditions.

Comment: Loopholes allow illegal wildlife trade
New Straits Times - Malaysia

by Elizabeth John

WHAT have we learnt from taking a photo with a T-shirt and diaper-clad orang-utan? What have we learnt from watching them play golf, dance or ride a tricycle? Nothing.

Yet, we file into private parks by the thousands everyday to watch, laugh and have our Kodak moment.

These are the kinds of places where, the Wildlife and National Parks department recently found several "performing" orang-utans smuggled from Sumatra.

Admirably, the department didn't just check on those they suspected were smuggled. They went the whole nine yards conducting DNA testing and verifying permits of 58 orang-utans in seven facilities in peninsular Malaysia.

They found 46 were Bornean orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) and 12 were Sumatran (Pongo pygmaeus albelli). Seven of the 12 were without proper documentation. They had been smuggled in.

Captured, carted off and kept for human amusement for so long, these Sumatran orang-utans can now take their final bow and begin the long journey home.

But this is hardly where the story ends. In fact it's where the questions begin.

Totally protected under the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 and listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites), importing or exporting the orang-utan without special permission is a crime.

So will anyone be prosecuted? The department has been cautious with its answers citing loopholes in the law as a possible hindrance to punishment.

The Act lists only Pongo pygmaeus as totally protected. It does not specifically mention the Sumatran species - Pongo pygmaeus albelli. If unlisted, can it be accorded protection under the law?

The problem, says the department, is being referred to its legal experts. We can only wait. However, when a country is party to Cites, as Malaysia has been since 1977, it must have the ability to enforce it through national legislation.

The convention that ensures international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival, is one of the few international agreements that has teeth and it protects all of the pongo species.

So if the Act had a loophole, why haven't we closed the gap to fulfil our obligations to Cites and stop the illegal wildlife traders escaping through it?

This seems like a re-make of the 2003 drama when four baby gorillas were purchased under questionable circumstances by the Taiping Zoo, rousing an international uproar.

They were believed to have been illegally captured and smuggled out of Africa before the Taiping Zoo purchased them. The gorillas were returned but action was never taken against any of those involved.

There was a loophole then too. Should we expect the same lack of action now?

Then there is the question of the 46 Bornean orang- utans. Though naturally found in Sabah and Sara- wak, they could well have been taken illegally from the wild or smuggled from the Kalimantan side of the island. However, checks with the department have revealed that they aren't pursuing the matter.

And what of the remaining five Sumatran orang-utans? Those, the department says, have proper permits and are pre-Cites specimens. It would imply that they are at least 28 years old.

In the wild, orang-utans often live past 50 years but in captivity, most never pass 35, say experts. So the proposition that these orang-utans were brought in before Cites is a very interesting one.

While the show goes on for the five, their seven "countrymen" have but a while to wait for an agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia to ensure their ticket home.

The department will soon initiate talks with their Indonesian counterparts on their return.

Once on home ground, the orang-utans can be re-introduced into Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Jambi in six months, says Dr Ian Singleton, the scientific director of the Sumatran orang-utan Conservation Project.

The SOCP has a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Directorate-General of Forest Protection and National Conservation for the rehabilitation of such orang-utans and has released 50 in the park since January 2003.

But it's just seven orang-utans and they are sitting at the highest tip of the iceberg above thousands of fresh water turtles, tortoises, cockatoos, parrots and birds of paradise that are illegally traded between the two countries every year.

It's been going on for years and endangered wildlife, many illegally procured, continue to be flaunted in full public view.

At least the animals have learnt to play golf. What have we?

More commitment needed to save orangutan

The Jakarta Post - Indonesia
October 10, 2005

Herman Rijksen, Jakarta

The Orangutan Action Plan Workshop, which was held in Brastagi, Tanah Karo in North Sumatra from Sept. 20 to Sept. 23 was a political move by an international non-government organization (NGO) to further confuse conservation efforts in relation to the orangutan.

Those who conducted the workshop seemed not to listen to information on the existing situation. For instance, much of the information on the Leuser Ecosystem (LE), and problems in conserving it, were not considered in the final conclusion of the workshop.

The Leuser Ecosystem covers over 70 percent of the distribution range of the Sumatran Orangutan, and its management is implemented, under a presidential decree, by the Leuser International Foundation (LIF). The LIF is an officially accredited foundation of Indonesians who have international access to expertise in conservation.

The most important issue of the past ten years has been insufficient leadership of the government agency Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA). By "leadership" I mean support, guidance, and supervision of the management body responsible for clear conservation duties. In the Leuser Ecosystem this refers specifically to the LIF.

For more than a decade the LIF has undertaken integrated management for conservation of the Leuser Ecosystem area and has solved many problems concerning its conservation through its excellent cooperation with the local government. Unfortunately its work has been frequently hampered by lack of cooperation from some powerful international NGOs and corrupt local politicians.

The workshop, which pledged support for conservation of the orangutan, gave insufficient attention to this local initiative.

If there is widespread support from the likes of the government and international NGOs then the chances of survival of the orangutan in Sumatra are far higher than the chances of survival of the orangutan in Kalimantan, where conservation is under the leadership of international NGOs.

The best way for international NGOs like Conservation International (CI), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) etc., is to support local NGOs and influence the authorities to issue good regulations and to provide proper supervision regarding the conservation work undertaken by these local organizations. So the role of the government is to support, to guide, to supervise and to control the NGOs. The role of the international NGOs is to promote good governance by the authorities with respect to conservation and to provide resources where necessary.

It was a pleasure to see the minister of forestry -- representing the government of Indonesia in the recent International Forum (GRASP) in Kinshasa -- pledge to support the survival of the Sumatran Orangutan. It is in his power to stop further habitat destruction on state forest land by timber concessions and encroachment by local people as well as to stop further planning and development of roads that endanger the habitat of the orangutan. The world expects that the minister will be supported in this task by the entire government structure of Indonesia and in particular by the President.

My final remark is that the orangutan is one of the oldest and most important stakeholders in the forests of Indonesia, and can only be saved from extinction if there is the full commitment of the Indonesian people even without foreign interference or financial support.

The writer is a member of the Species Survival Commission, Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN