Police Arrest West Sumatran Deer Keeper At Dharmasraya Protected Animals

DHARMASRAYA - The Resort Police (Polres) of Dharmasraya Regency, West Sumatra (West Sumatra) arrested a man with the initials FMR related to the ownership of a protected species of deer.

"West Sumatra deer or unicolor deer have a brown color, female sex, estimated to be two to three years old," said Dharmasraya Police Chief AKBP Anggun Cahyono on Punjung Island, quoted by Antara, Thursday, September 30.

He said the perpetrator had kept the deer for about two years. The perpetrators reasoned that they kept protected animals because they wanted to own the deer.

The police chief said that based on the suspect's information, the deer had been kept since childhood. The fawn was caught in mid-June 2019 in the Bulanngan Nagari Bonjol Forest area, Koto Besar District.

"After being arrested, the perpetrator took him to his house in the Koto Agung Sitiung area, so that the police and BKSDA and other parties would not monitor the fawns to be moved to the Koto Besar District area," he said.

AKBP Anggun Cahyono explained that the disclosure began with the development of an illegal firearms possession case by the FMR suspect, but it is known that the perpetrators also keep protected animals.

Furthermore, officers from the Dharmasraya Police immediately conducted a search and coordinated with the West Sumatra BKSDA to evacuate the deer, he said.

The evidence for one deer has now been deposited at the Dharmasraya Sumatran Tiger Rehabilitation Center (PRHSD) PT Tidar Kerinci Agung (PT TKA).

For his actions, the suspect is subject to Article 40 paragraph 2 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 5 of 1990 concerning Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and Ecosystems with a penalty of five years in prison.