NEWS: Wildlife from Indonesia intercepted in Surigao Port

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Wildlife from Indonesia intercepted in Surigao Port
Feb. 16, 2014


SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews/16 February) – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here intercepted on Saturday dawn a vehicle carrying exotic wildlife species from Indonesia, as it was about to board the ferry to Liloan in Southern Leyte, en route to Manla.

Zaldy C. Perater, officer-in-charge of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office said the illegal cargo was loaded in Alabel, Sarangani on board a Toyota Hi-Ace Vehicle with plate number WYI 97. The van was about to board the M/V Vanessa bound for Liloan when intercepted.

It contained four heads of crested cockatoo; two heads of black palm cockatoo; one head black pique; 56 heads of violet-necked lory; 29 heads of amazon lory; three heads of anteater and four heads of wallaby. It is not clear if these are the type of wallabies found in an Indonesian forest in 2010 and believed to be the smallest member of the kangaroo family documented in the world.

DENR personnel also discovered two dead birds: one black caique and one amazon lory.

Jecy Del Rosario, the driver of the vehicle and his companion, Bili L. Santipan said the wildlife was loaded in their vehicle in the morning of February 13, 2014 in Barangay Maribulan, Alabel, Sarangani province.

The wildlife shipment is allegedly owned by Tarciana D. Ejorja, Emie D. Loling, Gerson Barrios, and Jenny Perez.

Perater said the illegal cargo from Indonesia were transported via the “backdoor.” There are several Indonesian islands near the General Santos – Sarangani area through the Celebes Sea.

He said the illegal cargo would have fetched a high price in Manila.

Perater said his personnel reported that the animals’ cages were concealed with baggage and other stuff.

He acknowledged his office received a tip from Nonito Tamayo, regional director of DENR-Caraga that a van from General Santos was transporting the wildlife through Lipata Port.

He said the Port Police, PNP-Surigao City, Coast Guard and PNP Maritime jointly conducted surveillance of the vehicle which led to the seizure.

Perater told MindaNews that the seized wildlife species would be turned over to the Animal Center in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte. (Roel N. Catoto / MindaNews)


Source: www.mindanews.com/environment/2014/02/16/wildlife-from-indonesia-intercepted-in-surigao-port/

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Large cache of smuggled exotic animals seized in Surigao
Agence France-Presse
February 19, 2014

MANILA, Philippines — Wildlife officers said Wednesday they had seized almost 100 exotic animals and birds, including cockatoos, echidnas and wallabies, that had been smuggled into the Philippines for sale to wealthy collectors.

The cache, hidden in small containers in a van, was made up of wildlife from Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, said Eric Gallego, spokesman for the local office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

They included yellow-crested cockatoos and long-beaked echidnas, two species listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

They also included four wallabies from Australia and about 90 exotic parrots from Indonesia, said Gallego.

Several of the birds or animals had died, possibly from the stress of long travel in harsh conditions, he told AFP.

Law enforcers acting on a tip stopped a van with the wildlife and two attendants in the southern city of Surigao on Mindanao island on Saturday, just as the vehicle was about to board a ship heading north.

The birds and animals are believed to have been shipped from Indonesia to Malaysia and then across the maritime border to the southern Philippines where they would be taken to Manila, said Gallego.

“There must have been an order from a rich person in Manila for the animals as collector’s items. It must be someone who is into rare animals,” he told AFP.

The head of the government’s wildlife division Josefina de Leon said a crime syndicate with members from different countries was known to be smuggling rare animals from Malaysia into the southern Philippines.

Two men caught with the van will be charged with illegally transporting wildlife, a crime punishable up to six months in jail and a P50,000 ($1,120) fine depending on the rarity of the animals involved.

Source: globalnation.inquirer.net/99200/large-cache-of-smuggled-exotic-animals-seized-