In 1982, an orangutan researcher working in Indonesian Borneo wrote to a colleague at the biology department at the National University in Jakarta. He told of meeting a traditional-medicine trader at the market in Pangkalan Bun, a city in Central Kalimantan province. “A whole Sumatran rhino head is immersed in coconut oil in a basin,” […]
Tag: Indonesia
Christmas ad conundrum: Is a palm oil boycott the way to save apes?
A Christmas advertisement deemed too political to air in the U.K. but that has been viewed more than 70 million times online has rekindled the debate about how to save orangutans from going extinct: should consumers boycott products containing palm oil? In one corner is the British supermarket chain Iceland, which earlier this year announced […]
Another Dead Whale Found With Over 1,000 Pieces of Plastic in its Stomach
In another tragedy for marine mammals who are being impacted by trash, a dead sperm whale was found in Indonesia with more than 1,000 pieces of plastic in its stomach. According to the New York Times, the whale, who washed up on Wakatobi National Park,was too decomposed for officials to determine the exact cause of […]
Indonesia’s Aceh sees harshest penalty yet for a wildlife crime
A court in Indonesia’s Aceh province has sentenced two men to four years behind bars for attempting to sell a tiger skin, in the toughest ever penalty handed down for a wildlife crime there. Sarkawi Bin Warigo, 41, and Sabaruddin Bin M. Yusak, 45, were arrested last July. During the trial, they refused to be […]
In protecting songbirds, Indonesia ruffles owners & breeders’ feathers
JAKARTA — Songbird owners in Indonesia are up in arms over the recent inclusion of hundreds of bird species in the national list of protected animals. The owners plan to protest outside the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in Central Jakarta on Aug. 14, according to the Indonesian Songbird Fan Club (FKMI), a coalition of owners’ […]
Python Swallows Woman Whole—What Experts Say About the Rare Attack
The reported killing of a woman in Indonesia by a large snake has raised questions about how human development is impacting both people and serpents. Fifty-four-year-old Wa Tiba was checking on her home vegetable garden when she was believed to have been attacked by a 23-foot reticulated python. Local news reports say a search effort […]
Video: New Bird of Paradise Species Has Smooth Dance Moves
It’s hard to find a more superb bird than the superb bird of paradise. Males have an elaborate courtship ritual, during which they spread out their black cape until only a bright blue breast plate and blue eyes are visible in an all-absorbing blackness. Then he puts on a dance, moving around a female in […]
In early push into Papua, palm oil firms set stage for massive forest plunder
JAKARTA – The clearing of Indonesia’s last untouched swath of pristine forest has begun in earnest, with an area the size of Washington, D.C., razed for just a single oil palm plantation in Papua province, new data show. Nearly 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of forest have been cleared in Merauke district since 2014 […]