Orangutan trade, confiscations, and lack of prosecutions in Indonesia.

Prosecuting and sentencing law breakers punishes the offender and acts as a deterrent for future law breakers. With thousands of Sumatran and Bornean orangutans (Pongo abelii and P. pygmaeus) having entered private and government rescue centers and facilities, I evaluate the role of successful prosecution in orangutan conservation in Indonesia. Orangutans have been protected in Indonesian since 1931 and they are not allowed to be traded or to be kept as pets. In the period 1993-2016 at least 440 orangutans were formally confiscated, and many more were "donated" to law enforcement agencies. This resulted in seven (7) successful prosecutions by six different courts. Sentencing was lenient (median fine US$ 442 out of a possible US$ 7,600, median prison sentence 8 months out of a possible 5 years) and certainly too low to act as a deterrent. A paradigm shift within government authorities, conservation organizations, the judiciary, and by the general public is needed where trade in orangutans is no longer seen as a crime against an individual animal but as an economic crime that negatively affects society as a whole. Prosecuting offenders for tax evasion, corruption, endangering public health, animal cruelty, and smuggling, in addition to violating protected species laws, would allow for an increase in sentencing, resulting in a stronger deterrent, and greater public support. Conservation and welfare NGOs have a duty to become more proactive in a drive to increase enforcement; rescuing orangutans always has to coincide with prosecuting offenders and failures, and successes of these prosecutions have to be vigorously publicized. Despite numerous commitments made by Indonesia to orangutan conservation, and clear failures to deliver on almost all components, international donors have increased their funding year on year; it is time that this changes to a system where not failure is rewarded but success.