Despite all native diurnal birds of prey having been included on Indonesia’s protected species list in 1970, raptors have continued to be offered openly for sale in the country's many bird markets. The buying and selling, and also the keeping, of protected wildlife in Indonesia is a crime, punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine of c. USD 7,000. In 1993 the Javan hawk-eagle Nisaetus bartelsi was declared Indonesia's National Rare Animal (Satwa Langka Nasional); it has an estimated population size of 600–900 and is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The species is a clear K-strategist: females start breeding when c. 4 years old, lay only a single egg per clutch and only breed every 2 years. In 2009 we reported on the trade in Javan hawk-eagles, based on c. 250 surveys of bird markets during 1979–2007 (Nijman et al., Oryx, 43, 122–128) and recorded an increase in the number of individuals for sale following the rise of the species’ profile in 1993.
During the last 5 years my colleagues and I have made c. 500 visits to bird markets in Indonesia, including to all bird markets where we observed Javan hawk-eagles previously. Compared to the 1990s and 2000s, we saw fewer birds of prey in these markets and did not record any Javan hawk-eagles. It is clear, however, that the trade in Javan hawk-eagles has not diminished, but has moved online (Iqbal, 2016, BirdingAsia, 25, 30–35; Gunawan et al., 2017, Kukila, 20, 1–10).
In August 2019 I checked nine Indonesian Facebook groups that specialize in trading raptors; the groups have unambiguous names such as Selling and Buying of Eagles and Falcons (Jual Beli Elang dan Alap-alap). All were based in Java and were public, with the posts visible even without Facebook membership. I recorded 514 diurnal birds of prey of 21 species for sale (all verified by posted photographs or short videos). This included 12 Javan hawk-eagles, one adult Blyth's hawk-eagle Nisaetus alboniger (advertized as a Javan hawk-eagle), two adult Sulawesi hawk-eagles Nisaetus lanceolatus and 69 changeable hawk-eagles Nisaetus cirrhatus (48 adults or subadults). All the Javan hawk-eagles were young (five chicks, five first-year birds, two immatures < 3 years old). There were no photographs of adults, suggesting these young were taken from their nests or as fledglings, rather than being captive-bred.
Most posts had short descriptions of what was offered for sale, written in a combination of Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), regional languages (Bahasa Sunda, Bahasa Jawa) and slang. Species were given easily deciphered English code names such as JHE for Javan hawk-eagle (rather than EJ for Elang Jawa), LM and DM for light and dark morph, and BOP for birds of prey. Few posts had the raptor's complete Indonesian name included, presumably to aid avoidance of detection by the authorities. Asking prices were rarely included for the larger raptors, and all further requests, including the location of the seller, had to be through WhatsApp, a free messaging service owned by Facebook.
Although, as expected, most posts were regarding birds of prey for sale, there were also numerous requests for specific species or for partners of raptors already owned. Other species offered for sale were mostly various species of owl, a group that is mostly not protected under Indonesian law and, to a lesser degree, other birds or small mammals, protected and unprotected. In addition, all the Facebook groups had posts offering falconry equipment, such as gloves and hoods, and live food (quails, munias and small rodents).
As not only the sale but also the keeping of native birds of prey is not permitted in Indonesia, many of the Facebook group members (with their details clearly visible) are in violation of the law. In recent years Indonesian authorities have begun to prevent the online sale of protected eagles, and a few traders have been apprehended and some eagles seized. This has not, however, deterred the open sale of raptors on Facebook, similar to the way that trade used to continue with impunity in the bird markets.
