- The unmonitored illegal trade in porcupines across Indonesia has prompted calls from conservationists for stricter protection of the species’ population in the wild.
- A new study examining seizure data of porcupines, their parts and derivatives in Indonesia has found more than 450 of the animals in nearly 40 incidents between January 2013 and June 2020
- Indonesia is home five porcupine species, but only one is currently protected by under the law.
- The study’s author has recommended that all porcupines be categorized as protected species under Indonesian wildlife laws and listed under CITES to monitor the impacts of the trade on the wild population.
A new study examining seizure data of porcupines, their parts and derivatives in Indonesia has found more than 450 of the animals in nearly 40 incidents between January 2013 and June 2020. Porcupines are targeted both for domestic and international markets for their meat. They’re also coveted for their bezoars, the masses found in the digestive tracts of some porcupines, which is consumed as medicine in some cultures; and for their quills, used as talismans and for decorative purposes.
“Porcupines are also persecuted as agricultural pests, leaving them further exposed to wildlife traffickers taking advantage of these situations to procure animals for trade,” said Lalita Gomez, author of the study and program officer of the wildlife protection NGO Monitor Conservation Research Society.
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