Hunting and trading activities of reticulated python (Python reticulatus) in South Sulawesi, Indonesia: A report from the field

One of the main causes of biodiversity loss apart from habitat destruction is wildlife trade and when those causes combined, the impacts are detrimental to the survival of the species. Among all of wildlife traded, wild-sourced reptiles are found to be the highest traded during 2000s particularly for reptile skins where 24% were exported from Indonesia with 50% were known to be originated from pythons. This was included reticulated python (Python reticulatus) where many have been hunted for its meat, skin, fat and other parts not only for livelihood needs but also for traditional medicines and recently used for fashion materials which has significantly increased its trade. South Sulawesi Province has been known to become one of the sources in python’s skin trade. This study aims to 1) identify potential areas to catch reticulated python; 2) examine the profiles of hunters/collectors of python’s skins; 3) identify distribution channel of the skin trade within the region; and 4) determine sustainability of the python skin trading in South Sulawesi Province. A comprehensive survey targeting on hunters/collectors was carried in the three regencies (Bone, Wajo, Luwu) known to be potential areas of catching pythons in the region. To provide information on hunter’s/collector’s profiles, python’s population conditions, catching period and techniques used, structured interviews towards identified hunters/collectors were conducted. It was found that for the three regencies, there were total four hunters/collectors for reticulated python’s skins which marketed the skins directly to 1-2 companies in Makassar. The catching areas were known to be 42 spots widely distributed across the three regencies with the highest found to be in Wajo Regency (17 spots). Most of the pythons were caught live with standard length of 2.5 m. Number of pythons per month was ranged from 20-200 individuals with sold prices ranged from USD 3-5 per individuals. The collectors sold the pythons only in skin form with the prices around USD 4-6 per meter. In South Sulawesi, the hunters/collectors sold directly to distributor companies without any middle men. Based on the previous quota and the results of findings in the field, the hunting of python skins is still below the allowable quota and did not exceeded the population in the wild. Therefore, the harvest of the species through hunting can be considered sustainable.