Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
July 1, 2024
Suspects arrested for 26 endangered Javan rhino deaths
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities have arrested six
suspects in an international poaching ring targeting the Javan rhinoceros, a
critically endangered species. The suspects are part of a network that used
homemade firearms to kill at least 26 Javan rhinos since 2018 to get their horns.
The horns are in high demand in Asia where they’re predominantly used in
traditional Chinese medicine and increasingly for making ornaments, said
Banten provincial police chief Abdul Karim. He said the six men were arrested
in a joint operation by police and the Forestry and Environment Ministry in
May. One of the leaders of the syndicate, Sunendi, was arrested last year and
sentenced to 12 years in prison and a 100-million rupiah ($6,135) fine. Police and
a team of rangers from Banten’s Ujung Kulon National Park were searching for
eight other members of the syndicate, officials said. Karim said an investigation
found that Sunendi, who uses a single name like many Indonesians, and nine
others had killed 22 Javan rhinos since 2018, while another group had killed
four more since 2021. They sold the horns to Chinese buyers through a local
handler, who is currently on trial. Police seized homemade firearms, bullets,
gun powder, a steel sling noose, and other equipment used to poach rhinos. Rasio
Ridho Sani, the head of law enforcement at the Forestry and Environment
Ministry, said the population of the Javan rhino is declining and only about 80
mature animals remain, mostly in the Ujung Kulon National Park in the
western part of Indonesia’s main Java island. They are threatened by
destruction of tropical forest habitat and poachers, he said. “Poaching of
protected animals is a serious crime and is of international concern,” Sani said.
“We are working closely with the Banten Regional Police to search and arrest
the perpetrators of animal poaching crimes who managed to escape during the
operation.”
Fire sweeps Thailand’s famous Chatuchak Weekend Market
BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of caged animals died after a fire struck
Chatuchak Weekend Market, one of the most famous markets in Thailand’s
capital. The fire was reported early in the morning and quickly swept across
more than 100 shops in the market’s pet section, according to the Bangkok
government. Officials said it took them about an hour to bring the fire under
control. There were no reports of human casualties, but Thai media reports
suggested that the fire killed several hundred animals, including puppies, fish,
snakes, birds, and rabbits, kept in cages and locked inside the shops. The cause
of the fire is under investigation, said Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt,
who visited the scene after the fire was put out. Officials could be seen at the site
in the morning, inspecting the charred shops or breaking metal gates to bring
out animals that survived the fire. Officials are estimating the cost of damage
and said affected shop owners could register for compensation. The sprawling
weekend market is a major tourist draw, bringing in shoppers from all over the
world to browse its hundreds of shops and stalls for items ranging from food and
drink to clothing, furniture, plants, books, and pets. Wildlife organizations have
often accused some vendors of involvement in the trafficking of rare and
endangered species, such as turtles, tortoises, and birds.
Lunar probe returns with samples from far side of the moon
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s Chang’e 6 probe returned to Earth with rock and
soil samples from the little-explored far side of the moon in a global first. The
probe landed in the Inner Mongolian region in northern China. “I now declare
that the Chang’e 6 Lunar Exploration Mission achieved complete success,”
Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, said in a
televised news conference after the landing. Chinese scientists anticipate the
returned samples will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rock and other
material that scientists hope will answer questions about geographic
differences on the moon’s two sides. The near side is what is seen from Earth,
and the far side faces outer space. The far side is also known to have mountains
and impact craters, contrasting with the relatively flat expanses visible on the
near side. The probe had landed in the moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin, an
impact crater created more than 4 billion years ago. The samples scientists are
expecting will likely come from different layers of the basin, which will bear
traces of the different geological events across its long chronology, such as when
the moon was younger and had an active inside that could produce volcanic rock.
While past U.S. and Soviet missions have collected samples from the moon’s
near side, the Chinese mission was the first to collect samples from the far side.
“This is a global first in the sense that it’s the first time anyone has been able to
take off from the far side of the moon and bring back samples,” said Richard de
Grijs, a professor of astrophysics at Macquarie University in Australia. The
moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. — still the leader in
space exploration — and others, including Japan and India. China has put its
own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there. The probe left earth
on May 3, and its journey lasted 53 days. The probe drilled into the core and
scooped rocks from the surface. The samples “are expected to answer one of the
most fundamental scientific questions in lunar science research: what geologic
activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides?” said Zongyu
Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a statement issued in the
Innovation, a journal published in partnership with the Chinese Academy of
Sciences. China in recent years has launched multiple successful missions to the
moon, collecting samples from the moon’s near side with the Chang’e 5 probe
previously.
SAFETY & CONSERVATION. The shadow of Mount Fuji is cast on clouds hanging below the summit, top photo,
and the sun is seen rising above the horizon, bottom photo, in Japan in these August 27, 2019 file photos. Those who
want to climb one of the most popular trails on Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji will have to book a slot and pay a fee as crowds,
littering, and climbers who try to rush too fast to the summit cause safety and conservation concerns at the picturesque
stratovolcano. (AP Photos/Jae C. Hong, File)
Climbing limits are being set on
Mount Fuji to fight crowds, littering
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — Those who want to climb one
of the most popular trails on Japan’s
iconic Mount Fuji will have to book a
slot and pay a fee as crowds, littering, and
climbers who try to rush too fast to the summit
cause safety and conservation concerns at the
picturesque stratovolcano.
The new rules for the climbing season,
running July 1 to September 10, apply for
those hiking the Yoshida Trail on the
Yamanashi side of the nearly 12,300-foot-high
mountain that was designated a UNESCO
World Cultural Heritage site in 2013.
Only 4,000 climbers will be allowed to enter
the trail per day for a hiking fee of 2,000 yen
(about $14). Of those slots, 3,000 will be
available for online booking and the remaining
1,000 can be booked in person on the day of the
climb, Yamanashi prefecture said in a state-
ment via the Foreign Press Center of Japan.
Hikers also have an option of donating an addi-
tional 1,000 yen (about $7) for conservation.
Climbers can book their slots via the Mount
Fuji Climbing website, which is jointly run by
the Environment Ministry and the mountain’s
two home prefectures, Yamanashi and
Shizuoka.
Mount Fuji is divided into 10 stations, and
there are four “5th stations” halfway up the
mountain
from
where
the
Yoshida,
Fujinomiya, Subashiri, and Gotemba trails
start to the top.
Under the new system, climbers must
choose between a day hike or an overnight stay
at the several available huts along the trail.
T
The day of their climb, they are given a QR
code to be scanned at the 5th station. Those
who have not booked an overnight hut will be
sent back down and not allowed to climb
between 4:00pm and 3:00am, mainly to stop
“bullet climbing,” or rushing to the summit
without adequate rest, which authorities are
worried puts lives at risk.
A symbol of Japan, the mountain called
“Fujisan” used to be a place of pilgrimage.
Today, it especially attracts hikers who climb
to the summit to see the sunrise. But the tons
of trash that’s left behind, including plastic
bottles, food, and even clothes, have become a
major concern.
In a statement, Yamanashi governor Kotaro
Nagasaki thanked people for their under-
standing and cooperation in helping conserve
Mount Fuji.
Shizuoka prefecture, southwest of Mount
Fuji, where climbers can also access the
mountain, has sought a voluntary 1,000-yen
fee per climber since 2014 and is considering
additional ways to balance tourism and
environmental protection.
The number of Mount Fuji climbers during
Continued on page 6
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7.2673
2.238
7.8082
83.368
16352
42002
160.88
22147
4.7175
133.44
278.31
3.845
58.49
85.758
3.7518
1.3561
1381.4
306.02
32.52
36.74
25455