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Police foil attempt to smuggle pangolin scales, hornbill beaks
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A baby pangolin (Manis Javanica) climbs on its mother's back at Bali Zoo in Gianyar in this file photo. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
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orth Sumatra Police have arrested two men for attempting to smuggle the scales of pangolins and beaks of hornbills worth Rp 2.1 billion (US$141,437) to China.
Pangolins are killed for both their meat and their scales. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), pangolin products have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years to treat a wide range of ailments.
North Tapanuli Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Johanson Sianturi said they had arrested the two suspects separately on Saturday.
Police confiscated 38 kilograms of pangolin scales, worth around Rp 43 million per kilogram on the black market, from one of the suspects, while 10 hornbill beaks worth Rp 50 million each were confiscated from the other.
Johanson said the illegal sale of the animal parts was rampant due to exorbitant prices.
Manogot Lumbantoruan, an official at the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency, said the suspects had violated Law No. 5/1990 on natural resource conservation and ecosystems and faced a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of Rp 100 million.
Manogot said pangolins and hornbills could be found in almost every forested area in North Tapanuli.
“We believe that their population is dwindling due to hunting,” he said.
There are eight species of pangolin, with four found in Asia and four in Africa. They have traditionally been consumed in both regions.
According to the UNODC, sizable shipments of whole pangolins have been seized in Asia, but most of the largest recent seizures had involved pangolin scales sourced from Africa. The reasons for the shift to African sources are unclear, but may be due to declining Asian populations.
Pangolin scales are said to promote blood circulation and increase lactation in pregnant women, while the meat is used as a tonic.
All eight pangolin species are protected under national and international laws, and two are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Environmental news website Mongabay claims that the trafficking of hornbills in Indonesia is rampant, with the illegal trade moving increasingly online.
Rangkong Indonesia, a hornbill conservation group, recorded 51 cases of hornbills being sold online from January 2017 to August 2021.
Some hornbill species have been hunted to the brink of extinction for their distinctive ivory-like bill casques, which are prized by collectors in parts of Asia.
