The Acehnese provincial Police (Polda Aceh), the East Acehnese Police (Polres Aceh Timur), and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU) announced today an enforcement action against wildlife poachers and a dealer for trading tiger parts. The perpetrators were arrested in Aceh Tamiang, Aceh on August 8, 2015.

The arrest was led by Chief Police Brigadier (Bripka) T. Maiyudi and three Acehnese police officers. The operation involved a transaction for one fresh tiger skin, six kilograms of tiger bones (including a tiger skull), and four tiger fangs for USD $10,000. Three tiger poachers with the initials BHR, SAI, SHR, and a dealer with the initials AMR allegedly poached and traded tiger parts in Aceh. The tiger was snared in Gayo Lues on August 6, 2015 .

During the last 10 years, AMR served as a poacher and then as a tiger and deer dealer in Aceh Tamiang. He bought tiger parts from poachers in Aceh Tamiang, Gayo Lues, and East Aceh. Before the arrest, AMR had a record of selling tiger skin, bones, and four stuffed sambar deer. 

The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is a critically endangered tiger sub-species and can only be found in Indonesia. Sumatran tiger poaching and trading is illegal under Indonesian law, and violators are subject to a maximum of 5 years in prison and a fine of  USD $10,000.

The Head of Special Division (Kasat Tipidter), Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner (AKBP) Mirwazi said, “The Acehnese police will respond to illegal wildlife hunting and trading information to protect tigers and other protected animals through investigations and arrests. We will reduce the demand of tiger skins and other parts through strengthening law enforcement with relevant stakeholders.”   

 Noviar Andayani, Country Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia Program said, “We appreciate the Acehnese police’s efforts to arrest the tiger trader. Besides law enforcement, this arrest can spread awareness that we need to protect this critically endangered species. Moreover, tigers are an umbrella species that are important to maintaining a balanced ecosystem.”

"It’s encouraging to see this collaboration of the local authorities and WCU result in the capture of those involved in poaching and the illegal trade of Indonesia’s iconic tigers,” said Joe Walston, WCS Vice President of Field Conservation.  “These enforcement actions send a strong message for criminals to beware. This practice will not be tolerated and the guilty will pay the price for engaging in them.”

WCS’s Wildlife Crimes Unit is supported by the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, Fondation Segré, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Asian Elephant Conservation Fund and Rhino-Tiger Conservation Fund, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, USAID-Change for Justice,and the .AZA Tiger Species Survival Plan’s Tiger Conservation Campaign.