RIP Bunta... Good Bye and Thanks for Your All Over

Hello Stemian..

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Dunia konservasi sedang berduka. Bunta, salah satu gajah jinak Sumatera, ditemukan mati terbunuh di dekat areal Conservation Response Unit (CRU) Serbajadi, Aceh Timur, Provinsi Aceh, Sabtu (9/6). Sialnya, saya tidak bisa bergegas menuju ke lokasi saat menerima kabar kematian gajah berjenis kelamin jantan itu karena saya sedang berada di Polres Langsa, meliput kejadian yang tak kalah pentingnya yaitu konferensi pers perihal penangkapan narkotika jenis sabu seberat 99 kilogram.

The conservation world is in mourning. Bunta, one of the tame Ef Sumatran Elephants, was found killed near the Conservation Response Unit (CRU) area, Aceh Timur, Aceh province, Saturday (9/6/2018). Unfortunately, I can not rush to the location when I receive news of the death of the male sex elephant because I was in Langsa Police Office, covering the event that is not less important is the press conference about the arrest of narcotics type weighing 99 kilograms.

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Dokumentasi pribadi bersama gajah jinak di CRU Serbajadi. F/5.6 1/250 ISO 100 50 mm, Canon EOS 7D.

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Akhirnya, saya memutuskan untuk ke lokasi keesokan harinya. Minggu (10/6) pagi, saya berangkat bersama @syifa Antara Foto dan rekan dari Forum Konservasi Leuser (FKL). Kami tiba di lokasi sekitar pukul 10.30 WIB, setelah menempuh perjalanan menggunakan mobil selama 2 jam dan berjalan kaki menuju kamp CRU selama 1 jam, karena jalur menuju kesana tidak bisa diakses menggunakan mobil.

Finally, I decided to go to the location the next day. Sunday (10/6) morning, I went with @syifa from Antara Foto and colleagues from Leuser Conservation Forum (FKL). We arrived at the location around 10:30 am, after traveling by car for 2 hours and walking to CRU camp for 1 hour, because the path to get there can not be accessed by car.

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Settings: f/6.3 1/160 ISO 400 28 mm.

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Banyak yang merasa sedih dengan kematian Bunta, tidak terkecuali saya sendiri karena saya paham betul bagaimana sifat dan kelakuan gajah jinak. Mahout (pawang gajah) disana pernah bercerita bahwa, gajah akan mampu mengingat wajah kita selama 20 tahun kedepan meski hanya bertemu satu kali. Nah, saya pasti telah dikenali dengan baik olehnya karena saya telah berjunjung beberapa kali kesana.

Many feel saddened by the death of Bunta, not excepting myself because I understand very well how the nature and behavior of a tame elephant. Mahout (Elephant Elephant) there once told me that, elephants will be able to remember our faces for the next 20 years despite only meeting one time. Well, I must have been well recognized by him because I have been visiting several times there.

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Settings: f/6.3 1/160 ISO 400 16 mm.

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Settings: f/6.3 1/160 ISO 400 42 mm.

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Di Aceh, ada 7 lokasi CRU yaitu CRU Serbajadi di Aceh Timur, CRU Cot Girek di Aceh Utara, CRU Bener Meriah, CRU Mane di Pidie, CRU Sampoiniet di Aceh Jaya dan CRU Trumon di Aceh Selatan. Setiap CRU ditempati oleh empat ekor gajah jinak yang telah dilatih untuk berpatroli, menghalau hingga bertarung jika dibutuhkan dengan gajah liar. Bunta awalnya adalah gajah liar yang ditangkap oleh BKSDA Aceh pada tahun 2006 di kawasan Aceh Utara. Tapi di tahun 2008, ketentuan dan peraturan mulai berubah, gajah liar tidak bisalagi ditangkap untuk dijinakkan tapi hanya dihalau atau digiring kembali lagi ke hutan.

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In Aceh, there are 7 CRU locations, CRU Serbajadi in East Aceh, CRU Cot Girek in North Aceh, CRU Bener Meriah, CRU Mane in Pidie, CRU Sampoiniet in Aceh Jaya and CRU Trumon in South Aceh. Each CRU is occupied by four tame elephants that have been trained to patrol, dispels to fight when needed with wild elephants. Bunta was originally a wild elephant captured by BKSDA Aceh in 2006 in North Aceh. But in 2008, rules and regulations began to change, wild elephants can not be caught for domesticated but only driven or driven back into the forest.

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Settings: f/5.6 1/125 ISO 400 85 mm.

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Settings: f/5.6 1/125 ISO 400 28 mm.

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Stemian.. Bunta yang berusia 36 tahun ini telah berjasa banyak terhadap masyarakat khususnya di Aceh Timur. Dia bersama tiga ekor gajah jinak lainnya yang ada di CRU Serbajadi berada di garda terdepan saat menghalau dan menggiring kawanan gajah liar yang turun ke permukiman dan lahan pertanian milik penduduk. Tapi kemarin, Bunta telah mati karena diracun oleh pemburu. Gadingnya diambil. Sangat kejam.

Stemian .. Bunta is 36 years old has been a lot of service to the peoples, especially in East Aceh. He along with three other tame elephants in the Serbian CRU were at the forefront of the drive and drove a herd of wild elephants that descended into the settlements and farms owned by the population. But yesterday, Bunta had died of being poisoned by hunters. Ivory taken. Very cruel.

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Settings: f/7.1 1/200 ISO 400 40 mm.

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Settings: f/5.6 1/20 ISO 100 16 mm.

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Selamat Jalan Bunta. Terima Kasih Atas Jasa dan Pengabdianmu Selama Ini.

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Good Bye Bunta. Thanks for Your All Over

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Category	My Picture Day
Camera	Nikon D3300
Lens	Nikon AF-S 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G
Location	Aceh - Indonesia