Viral photos of endangered animals being hunted and killed in Indonesia have gone viral several times recently, with the vast majority of Indonesian netizens showing disgust and anger at the acts of animal cruelty.
The latest such incident came from the Facebook account of Jember, East Java, resident Ida Tri Susanti. The photos, which she posted in September, show her holding up a couple of dead leopard cats, hanging by their necks with plastic ropes:
Caption: Today’s hunting results…. Nom… Nom…
The photo was recently taken down but the post still remains, along with all the hate Ida has been receiving on social media.
A concerned citizen also started a petition on Change.org urging authorities to punish Ida for killing protected wildlife. The leopard cat, or Felis Bengalensis, is included on the list of protected wildlife in Indonesia and anyone found guilty of threatening their populations may face up to five years in prison and a fine of Rp 100 million.
The 5,000-plus people who have already signed the petition may get their wish, as the Jember Police called Ida in for questioning yesterday.
“I didn’t know it was a protected species. I thought they were just ordinary creatures that often preyed on poultry. That’s why the cats were cooked by my mother and we ate them together,” Ida said yesterday, as quoted by Indo Berita.
Ida clarified that neither her nor her family hunted down the cats for food. She explained that the cats were already dead when her cousin, Dwi, bought them from an unnamed acquaintance.
The police are still investigating Ida’s case.
But it appeared Ida’s case was just the first of several jungle cat killings in the country over the past month. Two men, one reportedly from Makassar and the other from Bengkulu, also uploaded photos that are very similar to Ida’s on Facebook.
The two Facebook accounts have since been deactivated, but screenshots like the one above have gone viral. The two men’s identities are also unknown because it appeared they used pseudonyms for their Facebook profiles.
While it’s sad that such incidences still happen in Indonesia, it is good to see the backlash cat killings are receiving online – clearly it is no longer acceptable to many Indonesians to kill endangered animals for fun and food.
Reader Interactions