In full swing: assessment of trade in orang-utans and ... - WWF UK

law enforcement in Indonesia is often lax some protected animals are more inclined to be kept out of sight than others.
The differences in openly displaying protected animals over the years and between markets may greatly affect detection
probabilities during market surveys. All these factors may contribute to changes in the number of gibbons and orangutans
detected at bird markets over time, even when the volume of trade has remained constant.
On the other hand, for both gibbons and orang-utans, there does not seem to be a correlation between the intensity of
monitoring and the number of animals encountered. In years where a large number of surveys were completed, and
where many markets were visited, no more or fewer individuals were encountered. For gibbons, the increase in the
number of animals encountered appears to be constant and there is no break apparent which coincides with, for
example, the onset of the economic crisis (1997) or the establishment of the first wildlife rescue centres (2001).
Furthermore, the pattern of increase has been observed throughout Java. For orang-utans, no clear trend is apparent, but
the data suggest that a relatively large number have been encountered at bird markets in recent years. However, there
seem to be spatial differences, with an increase noted for West and Central Java, but a decrease for East Java. Sample
sizes for orang-utans were, however, considerably smaller than for the gibbons, possibly masking any real trends.
Interviews with members of NGOs that have monitored the markets confirm the results presented above: for example,
in the greater Jakarta area, it is believed that gibbons, and especially Siamangs, have been seen offered for sale in
increasing numbers at bird markets in recent years. Siamangs were still frequently openly offered for sale, whereas the
trade in orang-utans had become an increasingly underground operation (Chairul Saleh, WWF Indonesia, pers. comm.
to Vincent Nijman, 2003). Along the northern coast of Central Java, there has been a significant increase in numbers of
gibbons and orang-utans offered for sale at bird markets in several cities since early 2001 (Joko, PPSJ, pers. comm. to
Vincent Nijman, 2003). For several cities throughout Java, the results of monitoring programmes conducted over the
past several years show that trade has increased, both in the number of individuals, as well as the amount of money and
people involved (R. Nursaid, Profauna Malang, pers. comm. to Vincent Nijman, 2003). Again, this trend was observed
while the trade has become much less visible.
Taken together, these data suggest that there is a high likelihood that the trade in gibbons and Siamang on Java and Bali
has indeed significantly increased over the last ten years, whereas the data are inconclusive for orang-utans.
There were few consistent trends in the variation of quoted prices over the years (Figure 8). For those three species for
which data was available for three or more years (Agile Gibbon, Siamang and Bornean Orang-utan), the variation in
quoted prices was large and for some species the variation within years was as large as the variation between years.
Hence, there is no indication of either an increase or decrease in quoted prices of gibbons and orang-utans.
IN FULL SWING:ASSESSMENT OF TRADE IN ORANGUTANS AND GIBBONS ON JAVA AND BALI,INDONESIA 22