In July 2013, the Natural Resources Conservation Agency - Regional III –in West Java Province and the Police of Tasikmalaya Resort confiscated 21 slow lorises (Nycticebus sp) from a trader at Tasikmalaya. All the lorises which are now evidence of this enforcement operation were sent to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre of Yayasan IAR Indonesia (YIARI.) Medical checks revealed that the lorises have health problems such as teeth damage, dehydration, malnutrition and also stress. They are now at the centre to recover their health and begin the rehabilitation process.
We hope that the enforcement operation will send a strong message to wildlife traders to beware. Based on Indonesian law No. 5 Year 1990 relating to the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems – section 21 (clause II), the selling and keeping of protected wildlife including slow lorises is prohibited. It is forbidden to exploit protected wildlife (hunt, keep as a pet, use or sell it.) Under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the slow loris is categorised as Vulnerable to Endangered, meaning the population in the wild is decreasing and moving towards extinction. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) categorises the slow loris as Appendix I, meaning trade is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
“We are committed to enforcing the law on the trade in protected wildlife and on the keeping of it as well,” Rajendra, head of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency - Regional III – West Java Province, said. “So far the case is still going through the administration process to be delivered to the court. The suspected person will be prosecuted under Indonesian Law No. 5 Year 1990 and threatened with a prison sentence of as long as five years or punished by a fine of as much as IDR 100,000,000.
The law enforcement operation on the slow loris trade is an important step forward, sending a clear message to criminals about forestry and the conservation of protected wildlife. Conservation means allowing wildlife to live free home harm and fulfil its ecological function in the natural world, not to live captive in a cage. The basic principle to remember is “don’t buy or keep a loris.”