Beauty, Scarcity Entraps Endangered Proboscis Monkey
6/14/99
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Title: Beauty, Scarcity Entraps Endangered Proboscis Monkey
Source: InterPress Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: June 14, 1999
Byline: Prabandari
YOGYAJAKARTA, Indonesia, Jun 14 (IPS)- Their beauty and scarcity are
both an advantage and a handicap for the proboscis monkey, known in
Indonesian as 'bekantan'.
One of 16 species of monkeys native to Indonesia, the long- nosed
'bekantan' hails from the biodiversity-rich East Kalimantan province
and is sought after by many collectors and zoos overseas.
Though local and international laws are aimed at curbing its trade
and saving the species given its increasingly degraded habitat,
experts say bekantan continue to be smuggled out of Indonesia.
Already, the bekantan population stands at less than 10,000 animals.
''The bekantan (masalis larvatus) is more unique than the orang utan,
and many zoos abroad would like to have them in their collection,''
said KMT A Tirtodiprojo, curator of the Gembira Loka Zoo (GLZ) here
in Yogyakarta.
At the Gembira zoo, there are now 11 bekantan, all of which were
confiscated after a foiled attempt to smuggle them abroad.
There are no categorical estimates of the size of the illicit trade,
but veterinarian Noorfitrianingsih estimates that some 50 animals a
year are brought out of Indonesia.
Experts say there is no lack of laws against the trade of bekantan
and other endangered animals. Indonesian law prohibits the capture,
sale, killing or trade in endangered species.
Noorfitrianingsih says that the Indonesian government has issued
various regulations for the protection of the bekantan.
These include Regulation No.7 of 1999 on the preservation of plant
and animal species, and Regulation No.8 of 1999 on the utilisation of
plant and wild animal species.
Apart from their appeal to zoos and collectors overseas, the bekantan
faces threats in their natural habitat.
The bekantan population is continues to decline, especially after
their original habitat on the islands Pulau Kaget and Pulau Tempurung
at the estuary of the Barito river, Barito Kuala Regency, East
Kalimantan, have been ravaged by the meddling hands of humans.
The Kalimantan government itself has come under fire for not being
serious enough in the protection of its biodiversity. Likewise,
attempts to help reverse the decline in the bekantan population have
not been without controversy.
In the middle of 1998, the Regional Government of South Kalimantan
province made the controversial decision of trying to propagate
bekantan by taking the animals from their natural habitat and sending
them instead to a number of zoos.
But several of the 17 bekantan that provincial officials captured
have died before they could be delivered to their destination, the
Surabaya Zoo, riling environmental activists.
Critics faulted the approach of sending them to zoos, although local
officials apparently thought the animals would have a better chance
of making it there.
Transplanting the animals is not a simple matter, expert say. In
their natural habitat, bekantan are known to be very choosy and only
eat the young leaves of the rambai (Baccaurea Motleyana) and mangrove
(Rhizophora) trees, which have an acidic taste.
When kept in zoos, bekantan are forced to adapt to the new
environment and eat unfamiliar food.
At the Gemibra Loka Zoo for example, bekantan do not eat rambai or
mangrove leaves but have to settle for the leaves of the 'ketepeng'
(cassia alata) tree, young mango and papaya leaves, and the leaves of
'jambu air' (Eugenia aquea), or string beans, and 'kangkung' (Ipomoea
reptans) and the leaves of the 'jambu monyet' (cashew nut) tree.
All of these are more sweet than the bekantan's original feed.
GLZ keepers say they need to observe a strict regimen for the care of
their bekantan because these animals are very susceptible to stress.
According to Deres, an animal keeper at Gembira zoo, bekantan like to
play with water. But if they stay too long in the water, they will
catch cold or get diarrheoa.
At first sight, bekantan appear to be tame, but they feel
uncomfortable in the presence of humans unfamiliar to them. When
under stress, this monkey with a long and rather rounded) will hold
its head down and eat or drink continually.
Dr Shirley McGreal, head of the International Primate Protection
League (IPPL), considers it particularly worrisome that nearly all
the bekantan taken out of Indonesia have died in vain.
Of the 15 zoos that have imported bekantan from Indonesia, only the
Bronx zoo in the United Nations and the Singapore zoo still have
bekantan. Of the 47 animals exported abroad, only seven have
survived, she says.
Because of this poor survival record, McGreal suggests that zoos stop
importing bekantan and instead use the available money they have to
step up efforts to breed the bekantan in their original habitat.
In many ways too, the dangers facing the bekantan speak of those
experienced by other animals in this country that has 10 percent of
all mammal species, 12 percent of reptile and amphibian species, 17
percent of bird species and 25 percent of fish species in the world.
Of Indonesia's 551 mammal species, 156 are listed as endangered ones.