Averroes Oktaliza, Investigating the Status of Otters
Averroes Oktaliza is one of four Indonesian representatives the IUCN has assigned to report on the condition of otters Averroes, also known as Ave, is now investigating otters, which are threatened in Indonesia.
By
ELSA EMIRIA LEBA
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/ELSA EMIRIA LEBA
Averroes Oktaliza
After he started by raising various wildlife species, Averroes Oktaliza, 38, has finally made a change. He has entered a new stage, leading a Jakarta-based foundation focusing on nature conservation. Averroes, also known as Ave, is now investigating otters, which are threatened in Indonesia.
When he was a junior high school student, Ave moved from the upscale area of Menteng, Jakarta, to densely populated Depok, West Java. He found animals rarely seen in Jakarta, such as snakes and monitor lizards. Ave thus became interested in raising herpetofauna.
He also joined a community of reptile owners on the Kaskus website. Later, while at university, Ave even set up a wildlife import and export company. It was a kind of pooling firm. However, in 2008, Ave experienced a life crisis.
“As my spiritual teacher and future wife advised at the time, I let go of everything that had become an attachment. I had raised more than 30 animals, including dozens of snakes and several lizards. In the end, I released them all to the wild, but I had no knowledge of the right habitat for them,” Ave said in South Jakarta on Wednesday (11/1/2023).
Ave realized that wild animals should live in nature instead of a cage.
In 2009, he had helped found of a herpetofauna community in Depok. The organization’s dynamics made Ave live in his own world.
In 2021, Ave established the Aspera Madyasta (Asta) Indonesia Foundation along with Puti Puspitasari, Kevin Geraldhy and Muhammad Azib, which aims at achieving balance between development and conserving Indonesia’s biological diversity. Ave is its chairman.
He described Asta’s two main programs, which are Save Otter Species (SOS) and Indonesia Herpetofauna Enthusiast (IHE), with Ave heading the SOS program.
One of the projects that the SOS program has carried out was a study on the distribution of Small-Clawed Otter (Aonyx cinereus) in segment 4 of the Ciliwung River in Depok. The research was conducted in September-October 2022 in collaboration with the Indonesian Biological Diversity Foundation (Kehati). It discovered the existence of small-clawed otters in the area, although this had not been in any official report previously.
Research
Ave and his colleagues have been continuing to research the otters in a broader scope since January 2023. They started investigating otters in 13 rivers in Greater Jakarta, including the Ciliwung, Pesanggrahan, Cikeas and the Cileungsi.
Apart from researching the animals’ distribution, they also studied how anthropogenic disturbance, such as the presence of bridges and human dwellings, affected the otters’ habitat. Interestingly, Ave found that these animals were capable of adapting to urban development. In Depok, for instance, otters were nesting in sewers.
Ave reported these findings to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in an article titled “Sighting of the Small-Clawed Otter (Aonyx cinereus illiger, 1815) in Ciliwung River, Indonesia”. Incidentally, Ave is a 2021-2025 member of the Otter Specialist Group (OSG) at the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission (SSC).
ARSIP PRIBADI
Chairman and Co-Founder of Aspera Madyasta (Asta) Indonesia Foundation, Averroes Oktaliza alias Ave, while in the field. Asta Indonesia Foundation aims to strike a balance between development and biodiversity conservation in Indonesia.
Ave is one of four Indonesian representatives the IUCN has assigned to report on the condition of otters. “Research and data records are important so we know where they exist and the conservation strategies we should adopt, including any recommendations for the government,” he said.
In its observation and research, the Asta Indonesia Foundation relies on otter sightings posted on social media by local residents and communities, although many cannot distinguish between otters and civets. When an otter sighting is confirmed, the foundation collects evidence of their existence, such as footprints, their “latrines” of droppings, gliding tracks, signs of reproduction, and nests.
“After these signs are found, we [surveil them] in camouflage clothing, as we don’t have camera traps yet. We stay for hours. Observation can last for several days. I once immersed myself in water for 12 hours, waiting for them,” said Ave.
The otters’ attractive appearance means they are frequently hunted. Asta discovered a pattern of otters being sold on Facebook in August 2022. It found one Facebook community that had sold 99 otters in a week.
Ave added that the Asta Indonesia Foundation was urging the IUCN to elevate the legal protection status of small-clawed otters. According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the animal’s status has been subsumed in Appendix I since 2019 (Kompas, 6/9/2019).
Appendix I refers to the international status of small-clawed otters as threatened with extinction. The otter trade only occurs under special conditions. In Indonesia, small-clawed otters are still unprotected, despite of their declining population.
This is basically redemption for a past sin. We can actually conserve nature by the simplest means, like avoiding dumping waste haphazardly.
“Otters are the top predators in wetlands like paddy fields and riverbanks. They control the population of snakes, preventing them from roaming residential areas. Otters also have a role as a bioindicator of water purity. If they disappear, the area around them or the water is not suitable for life,” he said.
The Asta Indonesia Foundation has six executives and 20 “sympathizers”. Ave gave up his job as an employee in 2019 in order to focus on conservation. The foundation’s living and operating costs are supported by Aspera Rescue Care, a business entity.
“This is basically redemption for a past sin. We can actually conserve nature by the simplest means, like avoiding dumping waste haphazardly. It’s like Asta’s motto, save what is scarce, conserve what is plentiful,” he said Ave.
Averroes Oktaliza
Born:Jakarta, 4 Oct. 1984
Education: Psychology degree, Persada Indonesia University YAI, class of 2002
Family: Dian Nourmayanti (wife) and three children
Occupation:
- Chairman and cofounder, Aspera Madyasta (Asta) Indonesia Foundation, 2021-present
- Managing director, Aspera Rescue Care, 2020
- Member, Otter Specialist Group (OSG) at the Species Survival Commission (SSC), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 2021-2025
- Member, Indonesian Herpetology Association (PHI), 2020
Achievements:
- First place, Java Region Group Category, Our Amphibian Reptilian Observation Movement (Go ARK), 2018-2021
- First place, Java Region Individual Category, Our Amphibian Reptilian Movement (Go ARK), 2021
/https%3A%2F%2Fasset.kgnewsroom.com%2Fphoto%2Fpre%2F2023%2F02%2F02%2F0a1f81a2-9c1a-4e65-8752-a92946e86f98_jpg.jpg){kind=logo}
