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1,120 frozen rats confiscated at Gorontalo Port
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Some North Sulawesi residents consider rats from the forests of Sulawesi a delicacy. (Shutterstock/-)
The Gorontalo Port Police confiscated on Thursday 14 boxes containing 1,120 dead and frozen Sulawesi white-tailed rats.
Considered a delicacy by certain communities in North Sulawesi, the rats, endemic to the forests of Sulawesi, were being shipped from Luwuk, Banggai Islands, Central Sulawesi, to Tomohon Market in North Sulawesi.
A Luwuk resident pooled the rats from suppliers and another resident brought them on a ferry to Gorontalo. The order came from a buyer in North Sulawesi. “This is the first time we have dealt with such a case in Gorontalo," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Wahyu Tri Cahyono of the Gorontalo Port Police on Friday.
Wahyu said each box contained about 80 rats and the buyer had promised to pay Rp 10,000 (70 US cents) per rat.
He said they confiscated the animals because they were not transported with the required animal quarantine documents. He also said they confiscated them after hearing about rumors of rat meat being sold as regular meat in markets. Most Indonesians do not eat rats and they are only enjoyed by a small group of people in North Sulawesi. The white-tailed rat is not a protected species.
Tomohon Market is known as an extreme culinary market, with diverse goods that include meats that are not commonly consumed by the larger population. There have been reports that dogs, cats, snakes, rats, bats, black macaques, babirusas and anoas can be found in the market, all sold for consumption. Outside visitors have in the past reported that they felt nauseous or disgusted, or sorry for the animals.
Black macaques, babirusas and anoas are all endemic to Sulawesi and almost extinct. The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in Gorontalo said some of the animals were hunted in forests in the province. According to reports, the hunters typically cut the animals before crossing the border to make the animal meat unrecognizable. (evi)
