Eating Chicken, Sun Bears Evacuated By Riau BBKSDA From Residents' Gardens

RIAU - Evacuation of sun bears from oil palm plantations was carried out following the cultivation of residents' chickens in Dua Mekar Indah Hamlet, Central Sungai Village, Sabak Auh District, Siak Regency, Riau.

Head of Region II Division (Head of Division II of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA) Mustafa Irfan Lubis said this activity was carried out by the Riau BBKSDA Team together with a team of forest police and veterinarians.

"The honey bear must be evacuated or moved to a safe location in order to avoid the residents' actions to make arrests. Moreover, the sun bear is a protected animal by the government," he said in Pekanbaru, Riau, Thursday, March 28, which was confiscated by Antara.

According to him, based on the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 106 of 2018, the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) is one of the types with protected status.

Meanwhile, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the status of a sun bear is categorized as critically endangered or endangered in the International Union's redlist for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

After being evacuated to a safer place and/or the first shelter, the sun bear will receive further treatment.

"The status of IUCN for sun bears is intended as a reference source for the threat of fauna flora in the world. Meanwhile, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to limit countries from trading in protected flora-fauna or because the number is very limited," he said.

After being evacuated, he said again, the bear was then released back into its habitat in a conservation area.

He explained that based on an investigation by the mitigation team, negative human and wildlife interactions at the Riau KSDA Center after descending to the location, a damaged chicken coop was found and one remaining chicken carcass of a resident who died was attacked by a bear.

"Next, the team conducted a sweep around the location which was an oil palm plantation and found one sun bear, but the protected animal actually moved quickly to disappear behind the bush," he said.

At around 6.00 WIB Wednesday, March 27, the team decided to continue the search, and received information from residents of the bear's presence in a resident's oil palm plantation which was one kilometer from the location of the first finding and immediately chased.

"After being assisted by the final residents, the bear was successfully evacuated at around 06.30 WIB after being shot with anesthetic. The bear animal was immediately released back into its habitat in a conservation area," he said.