Animals Protected Dead Due To Forest And Land Fires In East Barito, Central Kalimantan

The forest and land fires (karhutla) of East Barito Regency in Central Kalimantan (Central Kalimantan) have made rare and protected animals victims, one of which is pangolins.

"Yes, that's right, sir (there is a dead pangolin)," said Head of Prevention and Preparedness of the Barito Timur Regional Disaster and Fire Management Agency (BPBD Damkar) Body Santoso in Tamiang Layang, Monday, September 4, which was confiscated by Antara.

According to him, there was a pangolin that died tragically at the forest and land fires location in Karang Langit Village, East Hamlet District.

The discovery of pangolins that died from forest and land fires was immortalized in a short video and witnessed by a number of local residents.

He explained that it was possible that the pangolins had habitats in the burned land area in Karang Langit Village.

"The protected animal under the sweet Latin name javanica did not have time to get out of the nest and was trapped in a fire circle, causing her to burn to death," he said.

The forest and land fires that occurred on Sunday, September 3, in Karang Langit Village, were approximately four hectares. East Barito Damkar BPBD officers together with the TNI from Kodim 1012 Buntok and police officers from the Bartim Police, Matabu Jaya Volunteers and Sulung Rescue tried hard to extinguish the fire.

The fire was carried out from 13.05 WIB to 16.50 WIB. From the area of the burned land, about four hectares were successfully extinguished, about three hectares were successfully extinguished," said Body.

Body appealed to all levels of society to jointly prevent forest and land fires, because based on data from the East Barito Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) that this September is a normal lower drought.

Terjadinya kebakaran hutan dan lahan berpotensi sangat tinggi dan rawan bisa meluas. Ada terma api kecil jadi teman, api besar jadi lawan.

"Therefore, we urge you not to carry out land clearing activities by burning, because it has a negative impact on health and is included in unlawful acts," he said.