Melanie Subono Invites The Public to Protect Wild Animals
The wild animals in Indonesia being threatened by extinction has touched Melanie Subono, a well-known Indonesian musician and celebrity, to campaign on the protection of wild animals in Indonesia with ProFauna Indonesia. Together with the organization, the rock singer staged a peaceful demonstration in front of a shopping center in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, on 3 May 2009. During the demonstration, she invited the public to give support to the protection of wild animals in the country. In order to attract the crowd attention, she and some of ProFauna activists brought a gigantic helium balloon in the shape of a Tiger and carried on banners and posters said "Jangan Beli Satwa Liar (Don't Buy Wild Animals)".
Melanie Subono called for the public to get involved in protecting wild animals in simple way by not buying the traded wild animals. "The trade of wild animals has become serious threat to the animals' survival in the wild, because based on ProFauna's records most of the traded animals are caught from the wild", cited Melanie. The illegal trades of wildlife and habitat loss further bring wildlife to the brink of extinction.
Indonesia is notorious as a country with the long list of endangered animals. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are 183 mammal, 115 bird, 27 reptile, and 111 fish species in Indonesia are threatened by extinction. If there is no protection efforts, those species will be extinct in the wild like the Balinese tiger which has been extinct in the wild since the 1970's.
Rosek Nursahid, chairman of ProFauna Indonesia, added,"Without the public participation, it will be difficult to tackle the rampat illegal wildlife trade. By not buying the traded animals and actively reporting such illicit trade are two simple ways can be done by the public to support the protection of wild animals in Indonesia". ProFauna has been actively engaging the public to join its membership and become its supporter to campaign on the protection of wild animals. Now, ProFauna's members and supporters are spread all over Indonesia ranging from many backgrounds including celebrities, businessmen, university people, students, teachers and many more.