Rare Cockatoos at Siti Nurbaya’s Home
The lack of control over protected wildlife continues. The lengthy procedure for official ownership has led many people to keep wild animals illegally. Many protected wild animal species are kept without authorization by high-ranking government officials. A Tempo investigation found such rare animals at the villa of People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan, House of Representatives (DPR) Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, and DPR Legal Affairs Commission Chairman Bambang Soesatyo. Minister for the Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya was also found to be in possession of rare birds. This investigation, conducted since September, is a collaboration between Tempo, the Tempo Institute, and Free Press Unlimited.
November 20, 2017
In mid-October, one could hear birds chirping behind the three-meter wall of Bambang Soesatyo's European-style villa. A hornbill, yellow-crested cockatoos, cassowaries and brahminy kites were seen kept in spherical cages behind the villa's closed gate. Next to the birds, a spotted deer was also locked up in a cage.
The villa is located in the Cilember village in Bogor, West Java. Right next door to the villa owned by the DPR's legal affairs commis
...