Indonesia – Page 3 – See Animals Wild

June 2, 2022June 28, 2022

In an effort to deal with encroachment into national parks Indonesia is trying a new policy

Many of the Indonesian forest reserves, have become paper parks, with much or most of the forestation and other vegetation lost. They clear land in the hope that they will eventually be given the title to the land to make their seizures legal.

Under their new program “conservation partnership”, the settlers acknowledge that they cannot claim the land, and they have to help restore the land to how it was before they damaged it. The are then allowed to remain on the land and cultivate traditional crops and harvest non timber products like rattan and honey – but importantly, not palm oil.

This model has grown, and now 177,000 hectares is under this form of management (about 700 square miles.

It continues to be a hard balance between the protection of the forest, and allowing the people who live in these areas (both native, and those who move from elsewhere), to be able to better their lives through work. If work exists that both benefits them and the ecosystem then this is likely to succeed.

March 29, 2022June 28, 2022

New baby girl! Sumatran rhino born in captivity in a breeding centre in Sumatra

Today the Sumatran rhino is critically endangered. It is thought that not more than 80 exist in the wilds of Sumatra. Not particularly closely related to the Javan rhino, the Sumatran rhino once had a much larger range extending from foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Bhutan and eastern India, through Myanmar, Thailand, possibly to Vietnam and China, and south through the Malay Peninsula. Indeed the Sumatran rhino is thought to have lost its last remaining mainland member as recently as 2015.

with only 80 remaining in the wild, and so far little success in captive breeding this baby Sumatran rhino is incredibly important Courtesy Indonesian ministry of environment and forestry

As a result, a breeding centre has been set up on Sumatra to create a captive population with which to boost the wild population.

Unfortunately, they have not done well. This calf is just the third born since the foundation of the centre – the centre was set up in 1996. There have only been another 3 calves born elsewhere in captivity.

As with other Sumatran wildlife, the Sumatran rhino has suffered the dual threats of loss of habitat and the fragmentation of what is left.

March 4, 2022July 1, 2022

An arrested Sumatran politician – arrested for bribery, was found to have a pet Orangutan among a group of other exotic pets

There is a great deal of corruption in many parts of the world. In many places politicians are almost expected to give themselves extra benefits – indeed those who do not, are often quite notable for standing out.

In this case, after arresting the politician his house was raided, when the animals were found.

Keeping wild animals as pets can carry a 5 year jail sentence, in this case it must -he must not escape penalty for this

February 18, 2022July 1, 2022

Sea level rise threatens the extinction of Komodo dragons

Komodo dragons are the largest lizard that survives. Unfortunately, as they are found only on a series of islands amongst the Indonesia archipelago, sea level rise can quickly rob them of prime habitat.

As a result of this, they have been moved from vulnerable to endangered.

February 13, 2022June 28, 2022

Tiger doubling from 2010 aim review – Sumatra

Indonesia is a archipelago of islands. Once connected to the Asian mainland, animals were able to make their way along the peninsular. When sea levels rose in the ancient past they were marooned on the islands.

Once they were found on a few islands including Bali and Java. They are now only found Sumatra. Sumatra is thought to have 400 tigers in 2010. This is down from as many as 1000 back in 1978.

San diago zoo estimate the number remaining in the wild at 400-600, but I cannot find any reason for this higher band.

It is possible that the tiger population has increased a bit, but in certainly has not doubled.

January 11, 2022June 29, 2022

Indonesias leading University has proposed classifying Palm oil as a forest crop – This is insane, read on to find more – urgent condemnation needed

This proposal would mean that Indonesia could cut down all its rainforest and replace them with Palm Oil, and would have engaged in zero deforestation.

This has to be condemned globally, There are myriad problems with this. The destruction of the rainforest would release billions of tonnes of carbon into the air. Palm oil, will be incapable of reabsorbing all this carbon. Furthermore, palm oil plantations support just a handful of species of wildlife, so this would mean the end of the orangutan Sumatran elephant, tiger leopard and rhino.

Thankfully, there are many voices within Indonesia which are already condemning this move.

At the moment, this idea is the thought of various extreme academics (and much of the government). If it were to find acceptance, we could see the wholesale destruction of the forests of Indonesia, an area of deforestation that would have a huge effect on the worlds attempts to mitigate global warming. Arguments that palm oil trees absorb carbon as well, are absurd, as they absorb a tiny proportion of the carbon that would be emitted.

Hopefully, this will remain a crackpot academic idea, and a governmental daydream and never be put into place. We must be vigilant that it isnt.

November 6, 2021June 30, 2022

The Tapanuli Orangutan is still threatened with extinction, despite only recently being discovered

The Tapanuli Orangutan lives on Sumatra but are thought to be more closely related to Bornean Orangutans. Numbering around 800 members, they had a far wider ranging habitat until recently. They are now restricted to about 1000 square km – about 2.5% of their former range.

While looking very similar to other orangutans, this sub species has not interbred with any other orangutans for over 1 million years and despite living in Sumatra, are more closely related to the Borneo Orangutan

What is harder, is that these Orangutans are not naturally mountainous animals, but have been driven there by the hunting that has so decimated their numbers.

October 22, 2021June 30, 2022

In July local leaders in 9 districts in indonesia promised to protect 50% of peat forest and other important systems

This encompasses an area about the size of South Carolina, and is made up of about 75% forest with the rest peat.

Much wildlife live in these forests including orangutans, so this move is good for both carbon emissions and biodiversity.

August 25, 2021June 30, 2022

A logging company based in in Borneo taking a bizarre action

The company in question, which has no rights to do any logging, is now suing the longtime inhabitants and owners of land it wants to clear, for trespass.

This is obviously quite peculiar, and a case that should be laughed out of court. The community alleges the company has encroached on community land, has withheld key documents about the certification process, and failed to obtain free, prior and informed consent of affected communities during the certification process.

This should be very simple, if they have permission and they got it legally without dishonesty they will be able to prove it. All of the evidence would suggest that that is not going to be possible, and therefore they should be laughed out of court, unfortunately that is not likely to happen.

August 17, 2021June 30, 2022

Illegal trade in Indonesian leopards is booming

The country of Indonesia consists of many islands. Due to their relative size, these islands have led to many subspecies of animals adapting.

In the past tigers existed on at least three of these islands. These animals once lived on Java and Bali, but now there is only a small population in Sumatra.

In Java this leaves the the largest predator population consisting of the leopard – this is why it is so concerning that these leopards are being poached.

Read more news

Join as a wild memberto list your wild place & log in

Join as an Associate memberto assist as a writer, creator, lister etc & to log in

List a wild destination

List a destination in the shadow of man

List a hide for animals more easily seen this way

Highlight some newsmissed, or submit a one-off article

Browse destinations for fun or future travel

Temporary membershipstart here if in a hurry

Casual readers and watchers

Join as a wild member
to list your wild place & log in

Join as an Associate member
to assist as a writer, creator, lister etc & to log in

List a destination in
the shadow of man

Highlight some news
missed, or submit a
one-off article

Temporary membership
start here if in a hurry