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Agence France-Presse

Indonesian authorities said on Wednesday they had seized five Komodo dragons and dozens of other animals being sold on Facebook, as the country battles to clamp down on the illegal wildlife trade.
The vast Southeast Asian archipelago nation’s dense tropical rainforests boast some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world and it has for years been a key source and transit point for animal trafficking.

Five smugglers, identified only by their initials, were arrested in Semarang and Surabaya on Java island for trafficking the Komodos – the world’s biggest lizard – along with bearcats, cockatoos and cassowary birds.
“The suspect VS sold the Komodos online through Facebook,” East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said in a statement.
The dragons, which can only be found in their natural habitat on a cluster of islands in eastern Indonesia, were sold for between 15 and 20 million rupiah (US$1,000-US$1,400), Mangera said.




In a separate case, three other people were arrested in East Java over the online sale of otters, leopard cats and pangolin, Mangera said.
If convicted, the smugglers could face five years in prison and a fine of 100 million rupiah (US$7,000).
It’s time to outlaw animal cruelty in China
The haul of Komodo dragons comes just a day after authorities seized more than 5,000 endangered pig-nosed turtles from smugglers in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua.
The pig-nosed turtle – which has a distinctive snout-like nose and webbed feet – is only found in Australia and New Guinea, an island shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and is protected under Indonesian conservation laws.

Indonesia’s illegal trade in wildlife along with habitat loss has driven numerous endangered species, from the Sumatran elephant to the orangutan, to the brink of extinction.
Authorities in Bali, a popular holiday island, last week arrested a Russian tourist who attempted to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Indonesia in his suitcase to keep as a pet.


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Indonesia

Indonesia foils illegal sale of Komodo dragons on Facebook

One of the juvenile Komodo dragons that were seized by Indonesian authorities. Photo: AFP

A stuffed exotic bird, seized by authorities during an anti-smuggling operation, is seen past suspected smugglers during a press conference announcing the seizure of trafficked exotic animals in Surabaya on March 27, 2019. - Indonesian authorities said March 27 they had seized five komodo dragons and dozens of other animals being sold on Facebook, as the country battles to clamp down on the illegal wildlife trade. (Photo by Juni Kriswanto / AFP)

A juvenile bearcat, seized by authorities during an anti-smuggling operation, is seen past suspected smugglers during a press conference announcing the seizure of trafficked exotic animals in Surabaya on March 27, 2019. - Indonesian authorities said March 27 they had seized five komodo dragons and dozens of other animals being sold on Facebook, as the country battles to clamp down on the illegal wildlife trade. (Photo by Juni Kriswanto / AFP)

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Madagascar detains Chinese tourists after live animals ‘found in luggage’

The tourists were stopped at the airport in Antananarivo on Saturday as they tried to return to China, allegedly with lizard and centipede species in their luggage. Photo: Thepaper.cn

Former Urban Council member Hilton Cheong-Leen attended the police passing-out parade in the 1970s (exact date unknown) Photo: The Paper

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Dozens of protesters marched from Wan Chai to government headquarters in Admiralty. Photo: Felix Wong

Participants petitions for Hong Kong to ban fur trade, photographed during their march from Wan Chai to the Central Government Offices in Tamar. 17FEB19 SCMP / Felix Wong

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

As well as the lizards, the smugglers who were arrested are also accused of trafficking bearcats, cockatoos and cassowary birds


As well as the lizards, the smugglers who were arrested are also accused of trafficking bearcats, cockatoos and cassowary birds.


Conservation

Crime

Indonesia foils illegal sale of Komodo dragons on Facebook

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}As well as the lizards, the smugglers who were arrested are also accused of trafficking bearcats, cockatoos and cassowary birds

As well as the lizards, the smugglers who were arrested are also accused of trafficking bearcats, cockatoos and cassowary birds