At Least 55 Sun Bears Killed for Organ Trafficking

Samarinda, E. Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - At least 55 sun bears were killed in East and North Kalimantan in a year by S, a suspect involved in the illegal sale of organs of wild animals, the authority stated here, Thursday.

"In addition to bones, gall bladders, and canines, we seized 1,008 claws," an official of East Kalimantan`s Environment Office Supriadi said.

Some of the bears were killed not long before the package containing their organs was seized by the authority in July.

"When we opened the package, we found maggots in some of the bones, which means they were killed not long before," Supriadi noted.

The authority has yet to confirm whether the suspect was part of a syndicate of endangered wildlife smugglers. However, Supriadi believed that the suspect was familiar with the bears` habitat, and that he had been running the business since long.

S resided in the upstream area of East Kalimantan, which has abundant wildlife, before he lived in Samarinda for the past four years.

The package was sent from Tenggarong in Kutai Kertanegara District to evade strict monitoring in Samarinda.

The honey bears` organs were planned to be sent to Vietnam and used as ingredients in cosmetics.

The case came to light when the customs officials in Balikpapan seized a package containing the endangered animals` skeletal remains at the Sultan Aji Sulaiman International Airport in Balikpapan on July 14.

The authority sent the package back to the Tenggarong post office in order to track the owner. The police have arrested S who visited the post office to collect the package.

S was named as a suspect in the smuggling of organs of endangered animals on Oct 25. (*)