UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The Trade of Live Reptiles from Indonesia

A slightly updated version of the paper presented at the Lizard and Snakes Workshop (Sponsored by the German government) Jakarta, 26-27 Nov. 1996, and at the Second World Congress of Herpetology, Adelaide, Australia, January 1995

Introduction

Man had always been interested in keeping and learning about other species as
far as history can tell. Dogs and cats are prime examples of domestication of wild
animals that are used as "pet" animals. The trend in western societies the last few
years is to keep live reptiles and amphibians. Keeping these exotic animals fulfills
some people's dreams of visiting exotic lands and looking at their wonderful wildlife,
a pastime that is fast becoming out of reach for many ordinary people.

As more and more people live in small rented apartments They tend to have an
aquarium or terrarium instead of a pot-bellied pig or a great dane. Many had found
that keeping reptiles and amphibians can be a very fulfilling and obsessive hobby.
Reptiles, with exceptions, are relatively easy to keep compared to other types of pets.
Snakes in particular are very popular in the the United States or Europe while in Japan
turtles and lizards are more popular. Herpetology is typically more popular in
countries where people are used to keeping reptiles and amphibians.

The market itself can be divided into the following categories:

The zoo market:
While most zoos don't buy a lot of things from importers of pet
animals, those that look for the special species will buy it from anybody, as long as
it's legal. They usually pay the highest prices but the most difficult to supply.
The "collector and breeder" market:
This is where the "high end" animals that are not sold to the zoos end up.
The first live specimens of a popular group (such as pythons, boas) to be exported from
any country will end up here, as this market would probably outbid any zoo.
The real pet market:
This is the "bread and butter" of the live reptile and amphibian trade.
It is not the occasional rare animal that makes the money as most people would think but the regular,
low-margin and high volume trade of very common species that supports the trade.

Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia, with more than 17,500
islands spanning almost 5000 kilometers from Sabang in the West to Merauke in the
East. It has Asian type fauna on the west side and Australian type fauna in the east. Its
marine fauna is influenced by both the Pacific and Indian oceans. The Wallace line as
defined by Alfred Russel Wallace in his book, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the
first attempts to sort out the Asian and Australian flora and fauna types in Indonesia.
Of all the reptiles and amphibians in Indonesia, those that are prized by the buyers of
live animals are those of the Australian type. This is because there are no exports of
live Australian animals. In Indonesia, these are found in the island of Irian, also
known as New Guinea. Irian Jaya, the Indonesian province of Western New Guinea, is
probably the biggest supplier of live reptile, amphibian and birds for the pet trade from
Indonesia.

The species used for the trade

The people involved in the trade in Indonesia

The normal route for the supply of the animals can be described as:

Collector ====> (Middleman) ====> Supplier ====> Exporter

Sometimes there are more than one middleman involved and sometimes the
collector may bring the animals directly to the exporter (this is usually small-scale and
incidental).
Before the late 1980s, there were no professional reptile collectors. Most of the
collectors were bird collectors who tried to earn some extra money by also collecting
reptiles and amphibians. When our company started in 1988 as the first and only
exclusive reptile exporting company, there were no suppliers available. There were
times when we had to actually collect our own house geckos. Gradually, as the market
picked up in the early 1990, more and more people became interested in becoming
reptile suppliers. As the bird trade collapsed due to the airline bans, almost every bird
collector became reptile collectors. In 1993, there are too many reptile suppliers from
certain cities like Ambon, the capital of the Maluku Province. In other parts still with
only one or two suppliers, the people enjoy a very good source of income. In Sorong,
for instance, many schoolchildren from transmigrant communities make enough
money in a couple of nights by collecting the Australasian giant green treefrog, Litoria
infrafrenata, to pay for shoes and school books. In these transplanted communities,
the need for a cash income is very real: everybody has the same size land and the same
type of crops. The only way to get extra cash is to do better than the neighbor, who has
the same resources, or sell something that occurs naturally in their area.

At the moment, these are the only major collecting areas for live reptiles and
amphibians:

West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, South and North Sulawesi, Jawa, Halmahera,
Tanimbar, Seram and Ambon islands, parts of Irian Jaya: Sorong, Jayapura, Wamena
(only for Morelia boeleni) and Merauke.

The areas where actual collection is done are very limited. For example, in
Jayapura area the collectors are from the villages of Genyem and Arso, both reachable
within one hour's drive from Jayapura. Most of the animals are caught near human
habitats and not in the rainforest.

Collecting methods

Most snakes are caught by road hunting, the way they are caught everywhere
else in the world. These would be most of the New Guinean pythons and poisonous
snakes. Some snakes are caught near water; these are things like Reticulated pythons
and water snakes.

Most monitors are caught by traps, although some people use their hunting
dogs to tree larger specimens. An interesting method to collect monitors can be seen
with the natives in Merauke. They noted the direction of the monitor tracks found in
the mouths of holes common along the banks of the irigation canals. If they point
inwards, they will dig up the monitor. If they point outwards, they will wipe them
clean and come back later. With this simple but very successful method, they have
managed to crash the monitor's price in the export market very quickly.

House geckos are usually not caught in houses due to obvious home security
problems. They are caught at night in closed traditional marketplaces. Rubber bands
or a thin stick is used to bring the geckos down. Up to 800 adult house geckos have
been caught in one night from one market near Jakarta. They do not even collect the
small specimens and those with broken tails.

Many species have to be collected by hand. Takydromus sexlineatus, for
instance, can be collected all night long if there is the need to do that. They are so
abundant that to get 1000 lizards you only need a walking team of 5 people working
from dusk to midnight. It's as easy as picking groceries in the supermarket.

In every case, there is a need to know specific details about the animal's habits
and habitats. For example, Python curtus are abundant in palm oil plantations as can
be seen from the harvest numbers, but they cannot be seen during the day. Collectors
usually dig up rat nests to find these snakes. More than just one or two snakes can be
found in these holes. During baby season (October to December in West Kalimantan)
the Python curtus babies are reportedly collected by the hundreds in rice paddies.
A full moon is usually seen as a sign to stay at home as there would not be too
many snakes on the road. Dark moon after a rain is always the best time.

Discussions

Geographical varieties is a very strong selling point for Indonesian wild animals
in general. The biodiversity of this country is yet to be fully explored. Before the trade
began, very little attention were put on reptiles. One of the important things that the
trade stimulated is the interest of herpetologists all over the world. Those who are not
afraid to look at the trade as a source of information will find out that there are lots of
information here that can be the basis of many serious herpetological work. For
example, the Bluetongue skinks, Tiliqua gigas and Tiliqua scincoides types of
Indonesia has yet to be described in detail. We can see at least 4 different types from
different areas:

The Moluccan type is a slender, aggressive lizard. The tail color is darker than
other types (except Vogelkop type). Interparietal plate is diamond shaped.
Maximum size found is 50 cm.
The Vogelkop (West Irian Jaya) type is similar in tail color to the Moluccan type
but it is a bigger, bulkier lizard that tames down easily. Interparietal plate is
usually very thin. Maximum size in captivity is 60 cm. This type is also very
similar to the type from Halmahera island.
The Merauke type 1 (South Irian Jaya) inland type is the largest Tiliqua type in
Irian. Total length maximum is 75 cm.
The Merauke Tiliqua scincoides (South Irian Jaya) coastal type is short tailed and
sometimes are banded with red instead of black. This type looks like
T.s.intermedia from Northern Territory, Australia.
The Tanimbar Island Tiliqua scincoides type is a small skink with grey-brown
basic coloration. Scales are much smoother than other types of Tiliqua.
The Aru Island type seems to be an intergrade form between the two types from
Merauke.

Another example would be Morelia amethistina ,the Amethystine python, at least 4
different types can be seen from the islands of Halmahera, Seram, Ambon and
Yamdena, plus the 4 different types from Irian Jaya. With thousands of islands in the
Moluccan (Maluku) province, the possibilities are endless. Even the common Python
reticulatus come in many different flavors from this area.

There are plenty of opportunity to study biodiversity with such incredible
numbers of island populations of the world's largest archipelago country. Indonesia
welcomes researchers in the field of herpetology as we have a very limited number of
herpetologists. As more and more animals go under the CITES appendices, more
studies need to be done, especially on the reproduction and population biology of
exploited species.

Lately there has been a lot of criticism directed toward the trade of wild
animals by various groups. The trade of live wild reptiles and amphibians are not so
much in trouble yet, but it will be. Many groups are fighting for better animal rights
without looking at the human consequence. The closing of the bird trade, for example,
is the beginning of the end for bird populations. Most of the trade will go underground
and thus unmonitored. Those people who cannot or will not work illegally now cannot
earn extra income but must spend money and effort to keep the birds from eating their
crops. It may not be apparent in the beginning but if the fragile economy of the
world's poorest and least developed areas is disturbed, there's bound to be trouble.
With the bird trade gone, the reptile trade, which is very small compared to the bird
trade, is faced with a double threat. There will be too many suppliers and exporters
and soon it will not be profitable for anybody. Also, with the bird trade gone, the anti-
trade lobby is free to aim their million dollar campaigns against a new group of poor
people.

Granted, there are certain reptiles that need to be closely guarded and even
totally protected. Species such as Indotestudo forsteni or Manouria emys can be
highly susceptible to over-harvesting and Indonesia had always set very low catch
limits for these species. Unfortunately, the anti trade lobby will be attacking those
exported in large quantities, ie. the most common animals. This will mean that plenty
of resources will be used to verify that the common species will not go extinct while
the really threatened species receive inadequate attention and funding. This has been
shown in many examples around the world and will be repeated again and again.