On many Islands, occupied and claimed by Indonesia, live people who, in more advanced countries, would be regarded as living in fairly primitive conditions. These people have very little money to buy things that most of us take for granted. Neither do they receive much, if any, support from authorities etc.. They have virtually no way of making their lives better. To these villagers most animals are food, and are caught whenever they can. Although to us this is not right, to them it is often the means of survival. On islands such as Sulawesi there are many villages that are very seldom visited by outsiders, and these folk still live much as they have for past centuries. To them an animal is an animal, and represents food, so there is no consideration of whether it is a rare species or not. Sadly this attitude also exists in villages that are not really in need of these food sources. In many parts of the island there are very few birds or mammals to be seen as the people still take whatever they can. Even the protected reserves see poaching continue to occur. Markets normally have a wide range of butchered wildlife on display, and as well have many species that are known to be protected, such as macaques, kept 'under the counter' and available to people who are known to stall holders. There really is no excuse for this! Is there an answer to the problem?
