A man allegedly using Facebook and text messages to find buyers for orangutans and other endangered wildlife caught in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been arrested, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which was involved in the investigation through its Wildlife Crimes Unit and an Indonesian affiliate.
The man, whose identity has not been released, confessed to authorities that he obtained illegal wildlife and animal parts from local hunters and collectors in Aceh and North Sumatra, according to a news release distributed last week by the conservation group. Officials began building the case in February, when the man was apprehended during a transaction involving a juvenile orangutan.
Given the scope of wildlife trafficking, this arrest fits in the same “small victories” category as the 2010 case in which baggage inspectors at Bangkok’s international airport discovered a sedated tiger cub in a checked suitcase of a Thai woman bound for Iran.
Here’s more from the Wildlife Conservation Society release:
[T]he trader allegedly sold various protected living wildlife including orangutans, golden cats, hedgehogs, greater slow loris, siamang, Javan gibbons, hornbills and juvenile crocodiles. He also sold wildlife parts such as hornbill beaks, tiger skins and tiger fangs….
In a statement, Joe Walston, the group’s executive director for Asia programs, added:
The Wildlife Crimes Unit is supporting the Indonesian authorities in achieving a growing list of arrests and prosecutions of perpetrators of wildlife crimes. Through a combination of commitment and intelligence, Indonesia is now making strides in the war against wildlife crime, and in securing the natural heritage of Indonesia for its citizens — now and in the future.
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