Financial difficulties forced the Pentungsewu Animal Rescue Center (PARC) in Malang, Indonesia, to shut its doors on September 3 and send its rare and endangered animals — including orangutans, siamang, Bornean gibbons, parrot species and Javan ebony langurs — to zoological recreation parks.

PARC was the last center of its kind surviving on funding by donor foundations and the governments.

PARC project manager Iwan Kurniawan said the difficult decision was made because the Gibbon Foundation, a charity organization, had stopped funding the center’s rare species and the central government had cut off funding for its operational activities.

“The rare and endangered species have been handed over to Indonesia Safari Park II in Prigen, Pasuruan, Jatim Recreational Park and Malang Municipal Recreational Park,” Iwan said.

Four other animal rescue centers funded by the Gibbon Foundation and the government have closed down over the past few years.

The others were operated in the Yogyakarta regency of Kulonprogo, the Bali regency of Tabanan, the South Sulawesi district of Tasikoki and Tegalalur in Jakarta.

The only rescue center that has survived economic hardship and that complies with international standards set by the CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) is the Cikananga Animal Rescue Center, which is fully funded by the West Java provincial government.

Iwan said the government’s decision to stop funding the center had set back the conservation of protected species by a decade.

“With the closure, the government put all the rare species rescued from illegal trade and smuggling into zoological gardens, whose missions are not purely conservation,” said Iwan.

Indonesia has ratified the CITES, which requires all member countries to set up conservation centers, including transit zones for rescued animals before they are released back into the wild.

Iwan said PARC began running short of funds in June after the government, through the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA), stopped operational funds for the 2.5 hectare center. The Gibbon Foundation took a similar step also this year.

The center, which opened in 2001, was home to 100 rare and endangered species of primates and birds seized from illegal owners.

The Gibbon Foundation was initially committed to funding all the centers, donating US$6,000 per month to each, but problems began to surface after five years of operation, Iwan said.

But head of East Java BKSDA, Sumarto, denied the center had stopped operations. He said the remaining species would be cared for in the zoological gardens, which are partners of BKSDA.

“Of course, we have a problem with operational funds but all the species will be protected consistently and all staff tasked to take care of them will be paid fairly,” he said.

He acknowledged that BKSDA was seeking to team up with ProFauna, another wildlife conservation NGO, to take over PARC.

International ProFauna founder Rosek Nursahid said his organization would establish a conservation center and BKSDA would provide land for the endangered and wild animals to be released and protected.

(Source: The Jakarta Post)