Mystery Still Shrouds Alleged Orangutan Slaughter in E Kalimantan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Last September, a newspaper in Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan Province, received photos from a local resident allegedly showing orangutans being slaughtered.

The alleged orangutan killings reportedly had occurred from 2009 to 2010 at Puan Cepak village, Muara Kaman sub district, Kutai Kartanegara District, East Kalimantan Province. Kalimantan or Borneo Orangutans (Pongo Pygmaeus) are often considered as a pest by plantation companies.

Chairman of the East Kalimantan Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Mukmin Faisyal has urged police to investigate the alleged killings of the endangered and protected animals.

"I ask the legal enforcers to fully investigate the case and bring the perpetrators to court, no matter what excuses they have. The primates must be protected," Mukmin Faisyal said in Samarinda recently.

He regretted that the rare primates living in East Kalimantan are seen as a pest at oil palm plantations and not protected by certain parties. The forestry ministry’s forest protection and nature conservation director, Darori, said in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, Sumatra, recently that his office in cooperation with police, has carried out an investigation into the case.

He suspected that certain companies operating in East Kalimantan were behind the slaughter of orangutans. "We will punish companies ordering the killings."

The Kutai Kartanegara police have deployed a team to Muara Kaman since September 27, 2011, to investigate the alleged slaughter of orangutans.

"Until now, we have not yet found the bones or skulls of orangutans reported to have been killed three or two years ago," Kutai Kartanegara Police Chief Senior Adjunct Commissioner I Gusti KB Harryarsana, said in Kutai on October 26, 2011.

"Up to now, we have questioned 30 witnesses, including from companies operating at Puan Cepak village which was said to be the location of the orangutan slaughter," I Gusti said, adding that however, none of the witnesses said that they had heard or seen the slaughter.

"The current focus is now not to get confessions but to find evidence. If it is true there had been orangutan killings, there must be evidence, namely the animals’ skulls. Our team has been looking for the evidence in Muara Kaman sub district since a month ago."