Pteropus alecto in its natural habitat — photo Susan Tsang

North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, is a center for the bushmeat trade, especially of flying foxes of the species Pteropus alecto and Acerodon jubatus. This level of intense consumption is unsustainable in the long-term and will lead to increasing hunting pressure in other provinces, potentially leading to extirpation. A grassroots conservation initiative is direly needed, but there were no data about local cultures that could inform targeted conservation campaigns. In this study, we surveyed vendors and consumers at all eight major markets in North Sulawesi to determine local cultural factors that could be used in future awareness campaigns. We were also able to determine that sources of the flying foxes were colonies from other provinces, with South Sulawesi as the primary provider. With our findings, we highlight the need to engage churches and local students as local ambassadors, provide other sustainable options, and regulate interprovincial trade.

The paper can be found in Global Ecology and Conservation and is open-access here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000049

Sheherazade and S.M. Tsang (2015) Quantifying the bat bushmeat trade in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, with suggestions for conservation action. Global Ecology and Conservation. http://dx.doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2015.01.003

Translation of the abstract in Bahasa Indonesian below (from Sheherazade):
Upaya konservasi kelelawar perlu dilakukan dengan terlebih dahulu memahami aspek sosial dan budaya konsumsi kelelawar di Sulawesi Utara. Dalam perancangan upaya konservasi, kami perlu mengetahui persepsi masyarakat lokal terhadap kelelawar melalui survei, yang dilakukan pada tahun 2013 di delapan pasar besar di Sulawesi Utara. Masyarakat mengonsumsi kelelawar setidaknya satu kali per bulan, dan akan meningkat pada hari besar agama Kristen. Diperkirakan sejumlah 500 ton kelelawar dikirim dari provinsi lainnya, dengan Sulawesi Selatan menjadi penyuplai utama sebanyak 38%. Belum ada langkah yang dilakukan untuk konservasi kelelawar, karena berlimpahnya kelelawar di pasar menutupi pengaruh perdagangan terhadap populasi kelelawar liar. Kami menyarankan: 1) melibatkan gereja sebagai penghantar untuk pendidikan lingkungan dan penetapan kuota konsumsi. Tingginya konsumsi kelelawar berkaitan erat dengan perayaan hari besar keagamaan Kristen, yang merupakan mayoritas di Sulawesi Utara. Keterlibatan gereja dalam mengatur daging satwa liar yang dapat dikonsumsi saat perayaan akan sangat membantu dalam upaya konservasi. 2) aturan hukum untuk perdagangan antar provinsi. Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam (LIPI) Indonesia sebenarnya telah menetapkan kuota kelelawar yang dapat diperjualbelikan antar provinsi. Namun Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam sebagai eksekutor di lapangan belum melaksanakan hal ini. Oleh karena itu, penegakan hukum mengenai aturan kuota ini harus segera dilaksanakan. 3) penggantian kelelawar dengan daging hasil domestikasi seperti anjing dan kucing; 4) melibatkan pemuda lokal terutama mahasiswa sebagai pelaksana kampanye agar lebih diterima oleh komunitas lokal. Kombinasi inisiatif konservasi berbasis lokal dengan penegakan hukum bertujuan untuk menciptakan perubahan di tingkatan lokal, yang telah terbukti berhasil di program konservasi lain. Tidak hanya pada konservasi kelelawar, upaya ini juga akan berdampak pada konservasi mamalia langka dan endemik lainnya yang masih diperjualbelikan.

Under Peninsular Malaysia’s Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, flying foxes can be legally hunted by applying for a licence from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. A group of concerned independent researchers who go by the name Rimba  submitted a proposal and met with the state executive councillor in charge of environmental affairs, to lobby for a moratorium on flying fox hunting in the state. And the state government said yes!

Read the news report and related feature articles here:

‘Terengganu bans hunting of flying fox’

‘Gliding towards the brink’

‘Hunting rules’

‘Canine look-alike bats’

Mark E. Harrison, Susan M Cheyne, Fiteria Darma, Dwi Angan Ribowo, Suwido H. Limin, Matthew J. Struebig (2011). Hunting of flying foxes and perception of disease risk in Indonesian Borneo. Biological Conservation.

Email M.J.Struebig@kent.ac.uk for a copy. 

This is the first publication from a series of recent research projects in the Old World tropics investigating hunters of bats and other bushmeat species and their vendors and how the supply chain operates. Another has been completed in Ghana with reference to Eidolon helvum and another nears completion in Madagascar. A study in Brazzaville in which I was involved appeared recently in two adjacent papers by Robert Mbete and colleagues in the on-line journal Tropical Conservation Science (which you can download for free here and here). The surprising aspect of this study is the absence of bats from the comprehensive list of bushmeat consumed, despite direct evidence of bat consumption in Congo from others sources. So it looks as if the supply chain for bats differs from that for other kinds of bushmeat.

Note from Tigga: Mark Harrison and his team have made revised versions of the questionnaires available – please see the attachments, and the notes that go with them. They are happy for people to use and adapt, but please be sure to cite them!

Hunting survey methods and questionnaire – Jul 2011 – for SEABCRU

METODE SURVEY PENJUALAN KELELEWAR – Jul 2011 – for SEABCRU

METODE SURVEY PERBURUAN KELELAWAR BESAR – Jul 2011 – for SEABCRU

Notes for website on Q’airre use