Building a Czech-Indonesian team

The Kukang Rescue Program

We are zoologists and conservationists fighting the illegal trade in wild animals and especially striving to protect the greater slow loris (Nycticebus coucang) and Sumatran slow loris (Nycticebus hilleri) - poisonous primates that fall victim to their cuteness. We have been running a non-profit organization on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia since 2014, within which we have built a rescue and rehabilitation centre for confiscated slow lorises in order to return them to the wild. We work with local communities on several levels. We educate local children in whom we develop a positive attitude towards nature. We employ former poachers, who are now our field assistants. We are also transforming local farmers into conservationists by supporting the “Kukang Coffee” eco-friendly coffee project. In addition, we help them peacefully resolve conflicts with wild animals. The main purpose of all our efforts is to reduce the rate of illegal trade (not only) in slow lorises, and thus protect the population of (not only) these endangered animals in the wild.

Program Goals

Cooperation with local government agencies on wildlife conservation and on the enforcement of laws on slow loris protection.

Operation of a rescue and rehabilitation centre for slow lorises confiscated from the black market.

Setting up an Indonesian team that will implement most of the slow loris conservation activities.

Raising awareness about the illegal trade in animals and about the conservation of slow lorises.

Cooperation with and support of local communities.

Securing a sustainable population of slow lorises in human care, i.e. ex situ.

We strive to ensure that slow lorises, other wild animals, and their nature as such in Indonesia are professionally protected by Indonesians themselves.

In Sumatra, we established an Indonesian foundation called Yayasan Peduli Kelestarian Satwa Liar (PASAL Foundation). Our intention is to help the local people to play the role of conservationists in Indonesia. Since the launch of the Kukang Rescue Program, we have therefore worked closely with Indonesians, who hold various positions and are already a stable part of the team. In addition to these employees in the rescue and rehabilitation centre and the adjacent school, we also have a field team composed of residents of a partner village located near our field forest area. Its members manage a local eco-library for children, work with farmers, and carry out other activities related to the future release and monitoring of slow lorises. It is interesting that two field workers are former hunters of slow lorises and pangolins - however, thanks to cooperation with us they now protect these animals. With these steps, the Kukang Rescue Program has been able to eliminate the hunting of slow lorises, pangolins, and other endangered species in the area, thus protecting hundreds of animals. This significant achievement is already noticeable in the number of animals observed during fieldwork.

1) Czech-Indonesian team working in the field
2) Czech-Indonesian team working in the Kukang Program in the village of Bandar Baru
3) Czech-Indonesian team in the field
4) In our team, there are also former hunters of slow lorises and pangolins, who have now become conservationists

Stolen Wildlife

Illegal trade in animals and their body parts is one of the main causes of wild animals becoming endangered. A problem and responsibility of Asia, Africa or America? Yes, of course, but also European states are to blame, and so are even many citizens of the Czech Republic. You don’t believe it? You can now learn more thanks to the new, unique campaign named Stolen Wildlife. Stolen Wildlife is the first complex campaign in the Czech Republic, disclosing often overlooked facts about illegal wildlife trade.

I Am Not Your Toy!

The "I Am Not Your Toy!" campaign, yet another activity of The Kukang Rescue Program, is focused against the popularization of slow lorises as pets on the internet. This is most often done through "cute" videos on YouTube and by sharing videos and photos on social networks. It has already been proven that these videos have a direct impact on the illegal trade in slow lorises, i.e. they support it. The aim of the campaign is to inform the general public about the real background of these videos. Help us spread this information - together we can join forces and use the increasingly popular social networks and websites to raise awareness about wildlife protection.