Indonesia: Rare Javan Leopard Caught After Wandering by Village

Vento Saudale Jakarta Globe 17 Oct 13;

A rare Javan leopard has been caught alive by a conservation team in Sukabumi, West Java, after residents reported that the animal had been seen wandering around the outskirts of their village.

A team from the Indonesian Wildlife Conservation Forum (Foksi) at Taman Safari Indonesia caught the critically endangered animal last week. Residents had earlier reported seeing the leopard near Girimukti village, in Ciemas subdistrict, and the team caught the animal to prevent it from being killed.

Locals suspected the big cat had been preying on livestock.

“In the past few weeks I have been communicating with some of the residents to prevent the Javan leopard from getting killed,” Hendra, one of the team members, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

He said he and his team began honing in on the leopard’s whereabouts on Friday by following its footprints and droppings. The team then placed two cages in the area, baiting the cages with live goats to trap the leopard.

“Last Saturday night, the villagers heard some noise and they suspected the leopard had entered the cage to prey on the livestock,” Hendra said.

The team estimated the male leopard to be between 8 and 9 years old and to weigh about 45 to 50 kilograms. The leopard was taken away by the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) along with local officials, and was brought to Taman Safari zoo in Cisarua, Bogor.

Earlier this month, a Javan leopard was shot dead after it invaded a house in a village in the East Java district of Lumajang and attacked three officials who were attempting to capture it.

The leopard, believed to be from the forest-covered slopes of nearby Mount Semeru, ran into the house in Sumber village after being spotted and subsequently chased down by local residents who were attempting to drive it away, according to Taman Safari Indonesia director Tony Sumampauw.

The big cat invaded a house belonging to Mulyadi, who immediately fled along with his family. The villagers asked for help from the local authorities, and a team from Taman Safari II in Prigen, East Java, was sent to capture the animal.

When the team arrived, they found a crowd surrounding Mulyadi’s house and immediately launched efforts to check on the animal.

As they opened the door to take a look at the leopard, it attacked two officials from Taman Safari and a police officer. Another police officer then immediately shot the animal.

The three officials attacked by the leopard sustained minor injuries and were treated at a hospital.

The Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) is a leopard subspecies that exists in the wild only on Java.

It has been classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2008, with the population estimated to be less than 250 mature individuals. It is protected under Indonesian law.

Javan Leopard Dies in Its Cage After Surgery
Jakarta Globe 22 Oct 13;

A Javan leopard freed by conservationists from a wild-boar trap in the Kuta Agung village of Cilacap, Central Java, died on Friday last week in its isolation cage in the Serulingmas Recreational Park in Banjarnegara, Central Java. It was undergoing medical treatment by veterinarians for several weeks.

Banjarnegara Culture and Tourism Office chief Achmad Aziz said the animal immediately received intensive treatment after being freed from the trap by staff of the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) in Central Java.

“It had undergone three surgeries to heal the wounds it sustained from the trap. However, because the leopard had made lots of movements [subsequently], the stitches reopened,” he said. “It is possible that the wounds got infected and eventually caused the leopard to die on Friday.”

Separately, Central Java BKSDA chief Chrystanto said the animal will be buried in the park.

“The leopard has actually been operated and it took 100 stitches because of a serious wound on the stomach. The leopard is a protected animal and its numbers are very limited,” Chrystanto said.

He added that there have been several cases in which leopards were found wandering outside their habitat in Central Java, such as in the district of Jepara.

“That is why we will immediately put together an action plan to rescue leopards with other related entities,” he said.

The death of the Javan leopard came shortly after Taman Safari Indonesia zoo’s animal rescue unit, together with the Wild Animal Conservation Forum captured a male Javan leopard found roaming around a residential area in the Ciangsana village of Sukabumi, West Java.

Residents had earlier reported seeing the leopard near Girimukti village, in Ciemas subdistrict, and the team caught the animal to prevent it from being killed.

The Javan leopard is said by conservationists to be one of the rarest and most endangered species in the world.

A 2008 census by the International Union for Conservation of Nature showed that there were only an estimated 250 Javan leopards remaining in the wild.

However, according to a report by Tempo.co, not all of the leopards captured or killed so far were wild animals. Several captures in recent years suggest the animals had owners, but that they may have been set free deliberately.

According to Anton Ario of Conservation International Indonesia, the pet leopards were found wandering around West Java’s Sukabumi and Kuningan districts.

In Sukabumi, a pet Javan leopard was shot to death when it entered the National Police’s education complex in 2010.

“We found out from the autopsy results that there was plastic in its belly,” Anton said, as quoted by Tempo.co.

Anton said another pet leopard was also found in the Kuningan district of West Java and suspected to belong to a local dangdut singer.

In 2012, the animal was captured alive using a tranquilizer gun after being cornered in a resident’s henhouse. It was subsequently moved to the Cikembulan Animal Park in Garut, West Java.

Conflicts between the endangered animal and humans have continued to surface in recent years, raising public concerns.

“Contact between Javan leopards and humans today can easily occur, the main reason being the clearing of forest areas for plantations and farms,” Hendra W., a representative from the Taman Safari Indonesia zoo’s animal rescue unit in West Java, said last week , as quoted by Kompas.com.

In another incident, a Javan leopard was shot dead after entering a house in Lumajang, East Java.