Indonesia seizes hundreds of frozen pangolins

Authorities find more than 650 critically endangered pangolins hidden in freezers in Java

Agence France-Presse

Friday 26 August 201610.44 BST

Indonesian authorities have seized more than 650 critically endangered pangolins found hidden in freezers and arrested a man for allegedly breaking wildlife protection laws, police said on Friday.

Police discovered the pangolins, known as “scaly anteaters”, when they raided a house in Jombang district on the main island of Java after local residents became suspicious about the large number of freezers in the property.

A total of 657 pangolins, which are consumed as a luxury dish in China and used in traditional medicine, were found wrapped in plastic and stored in five large freezers, East Java province police spokesman Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono told AFP.

The house owner, a 55-year-old man whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested and has been named a suspect, a step in the Indonesian legal system meaning that authorities believe they have enough evidence to consider filing charges.

He could face five years in prison and a fine of 100m rupiah ($7,500) for breaking wildlife protection laws.

“The suspect insisted the Pangolins were not his, a friend asked him to store the animals because he has freezers,” Yuwono said, adding the friend named by the suspect was also being sought.

The suspect, who was arrested during the police raid on 15 August, insisted he had not sold any of the pangolins and refused to tell police where they were to be sent, the spokesman said.

Pangolins are sought after in China and other parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales. The meat is considered a delicacy, while the skin and scales are used in traditional medicine and to make fashion items such as make boots and shoes.

Protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the pangolin species found in Indonesia as critically endangered.

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The mission to find the world’s rarest cat in jungles of Java

By Chelsea Whyte

Slapping the surface of water to create ripples that mimic insects landing, fishing cats use their partially webbed paws to grab the fish that come to feed.

But this behaviour may no longer be seen in Java – evidence of the Javan fishing cat hasn’t been recorded for more than two decades.

“Is it the rarest cat in the world? It quite possibly could be, if it’s still alive,” says Anthony Giordano, a conservation biologist and leader of a new survey to seek out the elusive creature.

In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature designated fishing cats an endangered species, noting that the Javan fishing cat subspecies may qualify as critically endangered, the step before extinction.

But that was based on the last survey of cat tracks carried out on the Indonesian island – in the early 1990s.

Fishing cat tracks

“Fishing cat tracks are fairly distinctive. There’s very little you can confuse it with particularly on an island like Java,” says Giordano. “Fishing cat tracks are really interesting in the sense that unlike other cats, on average you’ll see the claws in their prints due to their semi-retractable claw system.”

There’s been only rumour or hearsay since then. People say they have seen them, but it turns out to be the more common leopard cat, which shares a similar habitat and markings.

Read on  

Mystery of the 'Vampire Crabs' Solved

by Agata Blaszczak-Boxe, Contributing Writer | March 19, 2015 07:06am ET

The mystery of the origin of two strange-looking species of "vampire crabs" is finally solved. The crabs come from the island of Java in Indonesia, according to the scientists who officially describe the species in a new report.

Vampire crabs owe their name to their spooky appearance, as they have bright-yellow eyes contrasting sharply with purple or orange abdomens.

People in the aquarium trade have known of the two crab species described in the report for at least a decade, said Peter Ng, a biology professor at the National University of Singapore and an author of the report. Ng said he saw the crabs for the first time in aquaria in Singapore, where the crustaceans were being sold as pets.

Read further ..

Nearly 150 endangered wildlife seized at Indonesian airport

Two shipments of endangered Indonesian species, including a sedated young orangutan, have been intercepted at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Java, Indonesia.

Along with the orangutan, the first shipment, which was believed to be heading for Kuwait, contained three Javan gibbons, four siamangs, a slow loris, 97 Burmese pythons, and two palm cockatoos, stuffed into two suitcases. 

The second shipment contained native Indonesian birds including eight New Guinea babblers, seven sicklebills and nine other birds-of-paradise.

This shipment was intended for Paris, France, with the animals believed to be destined for the exotic pet trade.

Out of the 144 animals found in the two seizures, at least 13 had died, news reports said. The surviving animals are currently recuperating at the airport’s quarantine station, following which the Ministry of Forestry will return them to their natural habitats. 

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