Indonesia

The illegal trade in primates in Indonesia inflicts terrible suffering on animals that are caught from the wild and sold as pets in the animal markets. It also poses the threat of extinction to some endangered species.

International Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia specialises in rescuing and rehabilitating macaques and slow lorises and releasing them back into protected areas in the wild. Our rescue centre on the island of Java has excellent facilities for the treatment and care of these primates.

Background

Indonesia's rich and rare wildlife is being exploited at a terrifying rate. Rainforests are cut down and animals are captured from the wild and traded, ending up in the legal and illegal pet markets and private zoos.

International Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia grew out of a group called ProAnimalia International that cared for primates confiscated from the illegal trade circuit. During 2007 our new primate rescue and rehabilitation centre was built with lightning speed on land donated by local residents in Ciapus, near Bogor.

The centre has a fully equipped veterinary clinic, spacious primate socialisation enclosures, a public education centre, accommodation for volunteers and visitors and a viewing platform for observing the animals. Set apart from the other buildings are quarantine enclosures for new or sick animals.

Slow lorises

The slow loris is a nocturnal primate which, even though it is legally protected in Indonesia, is frequently and openly traded. Lorises are sold at the roadside to passing drivers and in the notorious animal markets. Jakarta alone has three big markets where all sorts of animals are traded, both legally and illegally.

Before being sold on the lorises' teeth are clipped off by the trader to prevent them from biting. As a result many of them die a slow, painful death from severe blood loss and infection.

As it is illegal to trade slow lorises, International Animal Rescues works closely with the local authorities and the police to catch the dealers and bring them to court. We try to return rescued lorises to the wild whenever possible. However, we also provide lifelong sanctuary for any animals that can no longer fend for themselves.

Macaques

Various species of macaque live in different parts of Indonesia: pig-tailed and long-tailed macaques have no protection. They are caught from the wild and exported for research, or eaten as a delicacy, but mostly they are kept chained up or caged as pets in miserable isolation.

Our team rescues macaques which have often spent years in captivity. Owners cannot be forced to hand them over but often they are happy to part with a pet which was once small and cuddly but has grown into a strong and dangerous wild animal. After rescue, medical check-ups and treatment and a period in quarantine, the macaques are socialised in groups. Over time they learn to behave like monkeys and establish a natural hierarchy before being released back into the wild.

International Animal Rescue also helps the macaques by educating people in animal welfare and raising awareness of the risk of zoonotic diseases, as well as campaigning to win macaques some legal protection in Indonesia.

Orangutans

For one species in Indonesia - the orangutan - the situation could not be more critical. The survival of the entire species is under serious threat, with individual animals suffering and dying at a terrifying rate because of the systematic destruction of the rainforest in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo.

In recent years International Animal Rescue has lent its support to other groups rescuing and caring for orangutans in the area.. However the scale of the problem is immense and rescue facilities are stretched to the limit: there is no rescue centre for orangutans in West Kalimantan and facilities in Central Kalimantan are already full. We cannot turn our back on animals in such desperate need and have joined forces with other groups in the hope of making a real difference.

International Animal Rescue is using a temporary holding centre to care for rescued orangutans while we work to establish a more permanent facility. However the ultimate aim is to release them into protected areas of rainforest where they can live safely in their natural habitat. The project is an ambitious one but we are committed to doing whatever we can to protect and preserve these endangered primates.

Public awareness

Education is a vital part of our work in Indonesia to increase people's understanding of their native wildlife and motivate them to respect and protect it. The education team frequently gives talks and presentations to visiting schoolchildren and other local groups. The animals in rehabilitation at the centre allow visitors to observe how primates look and behave if they live as nature intended.

> Encyclopaedia Britannica: Protecting Primates in Indonesia Part 1
> Encyclopaedia Britannica: Protecting Primates in Indonesia Part 2
> Download our Slow Loris Rescue leaflet (208kb PDF)
> Download the Pro Wildlife Slow Loris fact sheet (805kb PDF)

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