JAKARTA POST (Indonesia) 08 December 06 Care of 28 crocodiles entrusted to private company in Serang
(Slamet Susanto and Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
Yogyakarta, Malang: The Yogyakarta Animal Protection Center has entrusted the care of 28 crocodiles to private firm Ekanindya Karta in Serang, Banten.
Director of the center, Sugi Hartono, said in Yogyakarta on Wednesday the decision was made to protect the animals while at the same time creating a research laboratory for crocodiles in Indonesia.
"At Ekanindya Karta's compound, the crocodiles will be cared for and studied," Hartono said.
Hartono said the center had installed microchips on each animal to track their location.
He said the decision to send the crocodiles to a private company in Banten was made after the Gibbon Foundation withdrew funding.
"That's why we have invited the private sector to get involved in conservation efforts," he said.
In Jember, East Java, the Malang-based Petungsewu Animal Preservation Center on Wednesday released 12 protected animals back into the wild in the Hyang highland forest.
The 12 animals, protected under the 1990 Ecosystem and Natural Resources Conservation Law, consisted of seven green peacocks, three bear cats and two eagles.
The release of the animals was overseen by representatives of a joint team from the East Java chapter of the Natural Resource Conservation Agency, Petungsewu Animal Preservation Center and ProFauna Indonesia.
"All the animals released into the wild have been quarantined for two years .... They were ready to live in their natural habitat," Rosek Nursahid of Petungsewu said.
The released animals were confiscated from cities in Java and Bali, where they were being sold or raised illegally, he said.
Rosek said that at Petungsewu all the animals were prepared to return to the wild in the Hyang forest, about 220 kilometers east of Malang.
The animals were transported in a covered truck in a journey that took about four hours. The truck stopped at Bremi village in Probolinggo regency, at which point the team hiked another five hours into the forest.
"The Hyang highlands are a suitable place where the peacocks, bear cats and eagles can live peacefully," Rosek said.
Iwan Kurniawan, also of Petungsewu, said an advance team had already scouted the area to ensure it was suitable for the animals' release.
Iwan said the center had released a number of animals in the same location in 2004 and 2005, and all the animals were still alive.
Care of 28 crocodiles entrusted to private company in Serang