Protected cockatoos seized from Sorong’s wildlife trader

SORONG, Papua — Sorong Police have confiscated hundreds of Papuan endemic animals and body parts of protected species from a trader house in Rufei district, Sorong, West Papua.

The confiscated animals comprise a pair of endangered great black cockatoo, locally known as kakatua raja, native lizards, and specimens from birds of paradise.

The Sorong Police special crime investigation division chief Comr. Dodi Pratama said on Monday that police obtained information on the wildlife trade from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

The Australian Interpol have requested the organization to trace illegal wildlife trade between Indonesia and Australia.

“They mentioned a name of a student in Bogor Agricultural University. Police caught the student. From him we got another clue, a wildlife trader in Sorong called Haji Nazir,” WCS Wildlife Crime Unit coordinator Irma Hermawati said.

“We contacted Sorong Police, as they have the law enforcement authority to take legal action against the trader.”

Nazir is considered to have violated Law No.5/1990 on the conservation of biodiversity and its ecosystem. Nazir faces a maximum five years prison term and a maximum Rp 100 million. Jersy Allen

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