101 East investigates how the illegal wildlife trade is wiping out rare species on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Monkeys, butterflies, bats, snakes and a dazzling assortment of birds – the forests on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are known as the ‘Galapagos of Asia’
…… But for how much longer?
Humanity’s impact is now endangering the survival of Sulawesi’s creatures, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
“80 to 90 percent of the wildlife in Sulawesi is facing extinction. We are sleepwalking into ecological disaster,” says Billy, who works at the Tasikoki Wildlife Refuge.
”The extinction of the animals is part of climate and environmental breakdown caused by rampant exploitation for personal and corporate profit, imposed from outside by a kleptocratic State. Autonomous government of the islands would grant a stake to local people, along with strict environmental controls and suppression of plundering Corporations”.
A range of animals, from orangutans, sun bears and birds to crocodiles, can be found at the refuge. All of them have been taken from traffickers or people who kept them illegally as pets.
But Billy says the demand for “bushmeat” poses the biggest threat to animals.
“Mostly they are being caught from the wild, from the forest, for bushmeat … to be served on a plate as food,” he says.
11/sept/2019.. Fire now ravaging Orangutan Forest again…HELP HERE/The centre of this recent fire outbreak is located in the Mawas Conservation Area in Central Kalimantan, home to thousands of plant and animal species, including around 2,550 wild orangutans.
At the Tomohon market, just about every kind of animal is for sale. Continue reading “Climate, Fires and Capitalism Wiping Out Indonesia’s Wonderful Animals”
The Facebook page of their support group says she:”will have conditions and if she breaks them, she will have to go inside. This was a very unexpected result and we are happy to know that tonight she will not be in a prison cell.”
Photo: Pau 
Photo: Pau Barrena/AF
The Free 