Hunted Kangaroos at Risk of Extinction
The man from the Kanume tribe, a subtribe of the Marind Anim tribe, was looking for a kangaroo in the tribe’s customary forest at Yakyu village, Sota district, Merauke, on Thursday (12/3/2020).
Kangaroos are seen in Bomisai, Wasur National Park, Merauke, Papua, on Thursday (12/3/2020). There are three endemic marsupials in the forest conservation area, namely the agile kangaroo (Macropus agilis), the forest/ordinary kangaroo (Darcopsis veterum) and the bus kangaroo (Thylogale brunii).
A repository of biological wealth exudes charm at the easternmost tip of the archipelago, in Merauke, Papua, with species that are unique and important for the balance of nature. However, hopes for its continued ecological health are getting thinner.
Solomon Maywa, 30, walked slowly in front. Several times, he let out a sound like a muffled cough as his sharp eyes swept across the surrounding forest. When his gaze caught something, he stopped in his stride to look deeper.
The man from the Kanume tribe, a subtribe of the Marind Anim tribe, was looking for a kangaroo in the tribe’s customary forest at Yakyu village, Sota district, Merauke, on Thursday (12/3/2020). In the language of the Marind Anim, the largest indigenous tribe in Merauke, kangaroos are called saham.
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The marsupials are endemic to Papua and Australia. In Papua, they can only be found in Merauke. Therefore, the kangaroo has also become one of the elements of the official symbol of the largest regency of Papua.
"It turns out to be true now that my children can't eat the kangaroo meat anymore," Solomon said.
Solomon's first attempt that morning failed. The animal quickly fled before we could get close to capture a picture of it. "It smelt our body odor. That's the trail, still new. They wander down here," he told Kompas, which followed him on the search.
Solomon Maywa concentrates before loosing an arrow while hunting for kangaroos in the forest of Yakyu hamlet, Rawa Biru village, Sota district, Merauke regency, Papua, on 12 March, 2020. Yakyu village is only about 900 meters from Indonesia’s border with Papua New Guinea. There is a military task force post by the village, which is inside in the Wasur National Park (TN), with 23 families living there.
The group of six people was then split up to avoid making be too much noise. With Solomon still in command, the search continued. About 30 minutes later, the search paid off.
A kangaroo jumped from behind the thick bushes, about 10 meters in front of us. However, it moved so fast that it almost instantly disappeared back into the forest. It seemed to have been our best chance to photograph a kangaroo in the wild after nearly three hours of jungle trekking. The rest of the day, we only ended up finding its tracks.
Even though it's only a glimpse, there was a feeling of contentment knowing that the kangaroo population still existed in the wild. Inhabiting the surroundings of Yakyu village, in the deep forest terrain of Merauke, the animal keeps large-scale hunting at bay, which would otherwise threaten its existence.
We set out our journey from Kampung Rawa Biru to reach Yakyu. Rawa Biru is 63 km from downtown Merauke or about a 1.5 hour drive. From there, the journey continued on a motorboat across swampy waters for another 1.5 hours.
Kangaroo tracks are found in the forest of Yakyu hamlet, Rawa Biru village, Sota district, Merauke regency, Papua, on 12 March, 2020.
Yakyu village is only about 900 meters from Indonesia’s border with Papua New Guinea. There is a military task force post by the village, which is inside in the Wasur National Park, with 23 families living there. The conservation park covers an area of 413,810 hectares, equivalent to six times the size of Jakarta plus Bandung, West Java.
In the interior of Wasur National Park, which has dense forests and swamps, kangaroos are still relatively easy to find. Wasur National Park is home to three types of kangaroos, namely Macropus agilis, Dorcopsis veterum and Thylogale brunii.
All of them are small kangaroos, commonly called wallabies. Based on the red list of the International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dorcopsis veterum and Thylogale brunii are vulnerable to extinction.
Mass hunting has been blamed for their quickly dwindling numbers in the wild. The animals, which until the early 2000s were still easily found in the savannas around Merauke, have now disappeared. Local residents say they used see kangaroos crossing the Trans-Papua Highway.
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The Trans-Papua Highway, which connects Merauke with Boven Digoel, cuts across Wasur National Park, which appears to provide a transportation haven for kangaroo hunters.
Kangaroo meat is easily found in markets in Merauke, one of which is Pasar Baru Kelapa Lima. An indigenous Papuan woman was selling kangaroo meat cut into pieces, which sold Rp 50,000 for the thigh, Rp 40,000 for the ribs and Rp 30,000 for the head.
"My husband got it while hunting," she said when asked where she had procured the meat from.
Traditional method
Hunting for kangaroos in Wasur National Park area is basically allowed as long as it is done with arrows or spears and the catch is to meet the family's food needs.
Kangaroo meat is on sale at a market in Merauke, Papua, on 12 March, 2020. One piece of kangaroo thigh was sold for Rp 50,000.
Even before Wasur National Park was formed in 1997, traditional hunting had been part of the daily life of the Marind Anim tribe for thousands of years. They hunt only to meet their own consumption needs, which helps keep the balance of the habitat in the wild.
However, some people go beyond what sustenance hunting, as is the case with Solomon. Armed with a bow, he takes to the forest to hunt once a week and often returns home with two or three kangaroos.
"But, I don’t always get them," he said.
Some of the meat feeds his family, and some is sold to sellers in Rawa Biru for Rp 13,000 to Rp 15,000 per kilogram. The weight of the kangaroos are generlly between 10 and 18 kilograms. From hunting kangaroos, as well as other animals such as deer and fish, Solomon claimed to be able to earn between Rp 600,000 to Rp 1.5 million per week. He used the money “to buy rice, areca nut, tobacco and salt”.
The hunting method used by Solomon is unique. He imitates the sound of a female kangaroo mating to lure the appearance of a male. That’s what he demonstrated when he seemed to be muffling a cough. He turned out to be attempting to attract the prey. He said he had learned he technique from his parents.
As for kangaroos that were still young or female, including those who were pregnant, they would not be disturbed so the population would be maintained.
The method was said to be in line with the principle of sustainability because only adult male kangaroos were enticed. As for kangaroos that were still young or female, including those who were pregnant, they would not be disturbed so the population would be maintained.
In many other places, however, hunters use methods that are harmful to the balance of nature. Some use rifles, others use flashlights before attacking the animal with a machete. Flashlights are used to dazzle the prey, such as deer and kangaroos, so that they can be approached and then killed at close range. Many hunters take as many animals as they can find.
The hunters mostly come from Merauke. However, some local people also use this destructive method, either doing it alone or in collaboration with people outside the village through a profit-sharing system.
Gerfasius Ndimar, 47, said he had used such hunting practices. He is a resident of Yanggandur village, Sota district. The village, inhabited by the Kanume tribe, is also included in Wasur National Park. He said he used to hunt kangaroos, deer, cassowaries and pigs, before he abandoned the practice in 2001.
He said he had been compliant with traditional methods before he was tempted to resort to more modern methods as he saw people from outside the village could earn more with air rifles and flashlights. Hunting for sustenance alone was not his motivation any more. "Once on a hunt, I could get 30 saham," he said.
Customary rules
Gerfasius said he felt remorse, given the fact that kangaroos, which used to roam around the village, were now gone from the area. When the residents wanted to hunt, he said, they would have to go deep into the forest interior, some 12 kilometers from the village.
"My parents were right. They used to be angry that I hunted that way, but I didn't listen to them. They said, 'you'll make it all go away, your children and grandchildren won’t be able to eat anymore.' It turned out to be true. Now my children can't eat kangaroo meat anymore," said Gerfasius
Jeremias K Dimar, 58, a Yanggandur community leader, was of the same opinion. He often advised Gerfasius and other residents not to hunt using destructive methods. While he was the village head from 2000 to 2012, Jeremias banned destructive forms of hunting.
“Until the 1990s there were still many kangaroos around here. Now, if you want to see them, the chance is slim,” he said with a bitter smile.
Rawa Biru, the heart of Wasur National Park in Sota district, Merauke regency, Papua, is pictured on 12 March, 2020. Containing a vast swamp, the site is surrounded by a dominant forest of eucalyptus. The swamp is a habitat for various fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Jeremias pointed out the need to protect the area with customary rules in order to preserve and increase the population of kangaroos in Wasur National Park. He said
customary rules would be more effective than formal legal rules.
"If you use the law, it will not work until the end of the world. But if you use customary law, people will be deterred," he said.
He said he had proposed the idea to the government many times but that it failed to be realized because it needed to be discussed with 8 other Kanume tribe villages. Efforts to restore the population of kangaroos were viewed as urgent, “so that the children can still eat the meat, so that they can still see it, not just in pictures".
Wasur National Park head Yarman said hunting was a problem in the forest conservation area, alongside forest fires. The animals there were often hunted included deer, wallabies and kangaroos. To deal with poaching, he said, the Wasur National Park authorities routinely patrolled and cooperated with indigenous peoples in monitoring efforts. "In addition to hunting, the number of animals in Wasur is starting to decrease because of migration," said Yarman. (Mohamad Final Daeng/ICH/ILO)
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
