Security officers at West Kalimantan's Bukit Kelam Nature Park discovered the samples when they arrested the four Poles for entering the area without a permit.
our Polish nationals have been arrested for allegedly collecting flora and fauna samples from Bukit Kelam Nature Park in West Kalimantan, a conservation official said on Wednesday.
Bharata Sibrani, head of Sintang Conservation District II at the West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), said park security had arrested the four Poles for entering the area without permit and discovered the animal and plant samples upon searching their belongings.
“They entered [the area] without a permit. Also, they only have tourist visas. They took plant and animal samples from Bukit Kelam Nature Park,” said Bharata as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
He added that among the samples were orchids, spiders and scorpions.
“From the samples we found, we cannot say yet whether [the four] had taken samples of protected animals or plants,” Bharata said.
The Embassy of Poland in Jakarta declined to comment when The Jakarta Post contacted them on Thursday, saying they needed more official information regarding the incident. (gis)
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