Defending the Howletts Ragunan Gorilla deal

[Guest guest]

*Researching this issue, I came across this rebuttal regarding the Howletts

Ragunan Gorilla deal. I have interacted with the author of this message on a

few occasions but in my reckoning, we are fraught with divergent beliefs

concerning animals in captivity. Nonetheless, this letter made interesting

reading.*

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/02/letter-indonesia039s-orangutans.ht\

ml

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*Jelle Boef (not verified) — Sat, 01/03/2009 - 4:10pm

I would like to respond to the earlier remarks made by the chairwoman of

IPPL. I do not fully agree with what you wrote and rather find that if one

complains one has to work with those parts of the Indonesian science

community appreciative of committed efforts to improve conservation

standards and procedure in the Republic of Indonesia. It all starts with

giving respect to those working in this environment and reallsing that

coming from affluent position we westerners have come to enjoy it is much

easier to judge matters (justly and unjustly).

For starters, Indonesia is a developping nation of 238 million people (est.

July 2008) with a rich biodiversity under threat from habitat loss, illegal

hunting and trade, ineffective wildlife law enforcement and shortage of

adequate funding. In this environment, Indonesia's wildlife conservation

authorities and scientific community who would like to initiate or continue

research into Indonesia's rich wildlife and primate species have to work.

Both disciplines often complain of lack of funding for their activities and

the bureaucracy involved in getting to the powers that be.

The zoo environment is not dissimilar in this respect and the highly

committed and well-trained staff of the Schmutzer Centre and Ragunan Zoo

have to deal with the everyday perspectives of funding crunches and

bureaucracies. Yet they continue to give as much as possible of their time

and effort to promote and improve the health, well-being, husbandry,

veterinary and welfare standards and animal exhibits as much as possible.

Before you fling any criticism at the Schmutzer Center: it is perhaps

necessary to tell you the history of the center. It was started with monies

bequethed by an animal lover who wished for better primate facilities for

Ragunan's primate collection and to allow for the exhibition in

well-maintained environments of local primate species. The erstwhile

director was Willie Smits of orang utan and gibbon rehabilitation fame on

Kalimantan. The John Aspinall Foundation got involved in the project with

both funding, animal husbandry and zoo enclosure design expertise and a

commitment to conserve and set up captive-breeding programmes for endangered

Indonesian primate species. They along with Willie Smits kept their promises

and set up a world-class facility for primate species in Indonesia. JAF and

Howletts Zoos have set up captive-breeding programmes overseas with

endangered Javan langurs, moloch gibbons and Sulawesian macaques and these

have become quite successful. They have been and continue to be centres of

scientific learning and expertise which welcome direct knowledge transfer

and cooperative captive-breeding programmes for the many confiscated

endangered species found in Indonesia both locally, in-situ and ex situ in

the UK.

It had always been the intention to give over the Center to local

authorities once it was fully operational and under high class animal

management. This has now happened. Aside from this operation, Howletts Zoo

has recently imported some endangered primate species from Ragunan for

continued genetic and population management and provide adequate housing and

breeding environments for those that could not be housed adequately locally.

In order to familiarise the local staff with keeping and breeding gorillas

at Ragunan 2 or 3 staff members, including a vet, have been trained at

Howletts Zoo for gaining knowledge and expertise in gorilla management and

husbandry. Skills they can then transfer to their other collegaes at Ragunan

Zoo. The species involved have been moloch gibbons and Sulawesian macaques.

These transfers have happened under the umbrella of the Silvery Gibbon

Project run by Perth Zoo and which has both a captive-breeding component

(both inside Indonesia as well as in Australia/Europe and the US) and an in

situ conservation component (a.o. the Gunung Halimun NP). Funding is

currently being sought to increase the absorption capacity of the

rehabilitation station on Java and the conservation programme in situ. A

scientific symposium was held in early 2008 assembling both local Indonesian

scientists, wildlife managers and zoo staff and those elsewhere with an

interest and commitment to Indonesian primate conservation (these included

Perth and Howletts Zoo staff and several internationally reknowned primate

researchers working in Indonesia).

Local NGO's have had a well-established tradition in bringing about change

in the bureaucratic processes that continue to embattle local government.

So, my gist is ... if you want to change ... you will have to work with

committed local people and provide them the funding and tools to bring about

change. Indonesia has quite a few of these local organisations that are

working with native communities to improve wildlife conservation standards

in the country both in captivity and in the wild. It is time that we support

them and the government Ministry of Environment which is hamperred by a

funding crunch even locally.

It is much easier to stand on the sidelines and criticise ..., than actually

to provide that much needed funding for the improvement of animal exhibits

at Ragunan Zoo and help their staff do the business properly. And ... if you

work the proper channels and show you are committed for the right reasons

.... you may well find a willing ear to your concerns. But somehow, I do not

think that you are that person (allthough I do think quite highly of IPPL

activities in general) nor have the capacity and knowledge required to do so

(as evidenced by your lack of background knowledge on this project which

incidentally is freely available on the internet).

I rest my case, but not my personal commitment to the Republic of Indonesia,

its endangered biodiversity and those Indonesian citizins and trained cadres

to improve conservation prospects for primate and other wildlife

conservation initiatives.*