Poachers shift to hornbills as rare animals decline

Because of decreasing numbers of rare wildlife species in Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL), located in North Sumatra and Aceh provinces, poachers have recently started catching the rangkong, or hornbill.

“Hornbills are currently being targeted by poachers because they are rare and hard to catch, partly because their population is further declining,” TNGL center head Andi Basrul told The Jakarta Post on Monday. Basrul said the hornbill was highly valued on the black market, and was being sought by poachers only as of this year. He added that based on the accounts of poachers arrested by officers, the price of a hornbill beak was around Rp 9 million (US$690), or Rp 90,000 per gram. Basrul said officers confiscated 12 hornbill beaks, which had been cleaned and prepared for sale overseas, from the two poachers. He said poaching suspects could face five years in prison and be fined Rp 100 million in accordance with Law No. 5/1990, which covers the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems. Meanwhile, a suspect who traded in hornbill beaks, Jamas, 37, said he had only recently traded in the bird. Jamas said that he used to poach other animals, including elephants and tigers, in TNGL. However, as the endangered animals became harder to find, Jamas said that he switched to trading hornbills. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia Program, the population of rare animals in the park, including Sumatran tigers, rhinos, elephants and orangutans, has continuously decreased over the last 20 years.