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Travelling
through the mountains and valleys of Southern Aceh through the
magnificent Gunung Leuseur National Park years ago, little did
we know that today the wild life species of that same park,
which was so well protected then, would now be facing annihilation. Sumatra
has held a fascination for many as it differs
from other Indonesian islands in its cultures and its wild
life to such an extent that the island seems to be worlds away
from Java, which is the ruling island of the Indonesian
archipelago. After
marriage with a Sumatran, the question always
arose as to why he never said he was from Indonesia. His only
response to the thousands times asked questions of where he
was from, was a simple, "Sumatra". That bold
word said many things to the listeners then with their puzzled
expressions and left us wondering if the listeners went home
to consult their atlas' as to where on earth Sumatra was. We
all listened to his many times told stories, bearing a
resemblance to myths and legends, of the Sumatran tigers
which roamed his homeland in Sumatra. According to these
stories, the wild Sumatran tiger would roam around the
people's houses at night, which was why he explained, they had
built their houses in such a way as to prevent the tiger from
jumping up or getting in to devour them all. He would tell of
being able to hear them roaming around as a small child. When
asked where the tigers were now, none of us can recall
receiving an answer to that question. On
one occasion, the whole family visited the Perth Zoo in
Western Australia with him where we saw a large black monkey
called a "Siamang". Proudly, he told of
the many thousands of Siamangs which once lived on
Samosir Island in Lake Toba. When asked what he meant by once
lived there, we received the answer that they were no
longer there, but he continued to tell the glowing stories of
how once he could hear these loud monkeys making loud throatal
noises at night time calling to their mates. Asked where they
were now, once again, we do not recall him answering that
question either. He was from an ethnic group in North Sumatra
which is the province bordering Aceh, where a war presently
rages. When
our family visited North Sumatra in 1996, it was certainly clear that no live tigers lived there
any more, no Siamangs on Samosir Island and not even a trace
of the once thousands of orang hutans. Other species of wild
life native to that area, would only be known by locals, such
as the trenggiling which we encountered last year trying to
steal chicken eggs from where we lived on that island in
Sumatra. We were told that they were very rare these days but
that did not stop the locals killing it as the chicken eggs
were more valuable to them than a strange thing that crawled
in and out of the lake. Old antique wood carvings also
revealed a whole array of wild life no longer in existence in
Lake Toba, such as a type of crocodile. However,
what was a most astonishing contrast, was when a few years
later and deciding to visit neighbouring Aceh, it was revealed
that the tiger was there and in reasonable numbers and
alhamdulillah it was protected. The numbers were large enough
to have eaten a few tourists here and there, as we were
informed by one enthusiastic tour guide in Gunung Leuser National
Park in Aceh. So we wondered then why just over the border
where Muslims lived, so did the tiger. We concluded then with
logic and knowledge that the Christians on the North Sumatran
side of the border must have eaten or poached that tiger into extinction
in that region, whereas clearly Muslims must not have eaten
tigers. Later on, as a Muslim of course, we were to find that
there was some truth in that as the tiger is haram to eat for
Muslims, so maybe it did have some bearing on the tiger still
roaming the beautiful rain forests and jungles of Aceh. That
was then. Unfortunately
in these times of wars, Aceh's tiger which was down to its
last 400 were being hunted and poached to have various body
parts sold as aphrodisiacs to Chinese vendors who seem to
require a lot of medicinal aphrodisiacs whether it is
from tiger or orang hutan body parts. Tiger skins also are in
demand. The war in Aceh
province has taken its toll on its wild life including the
rare and beautiful birds from the jungles. The Indonesian
military are well known for capturing these wild species and
going into private business to sell them wherever they are in
demand. After
the war, conservationists may be not only shocked at the human
toll in Aceh but also at the huge toll on what remains of the wild
life of the Gunung Leuser National Park. Her small elephants,
hippos, rare tigers and exotic birds are lost in the political
landscape of a violent world.
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