Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Indonesian, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Spanish.

Everywhere in the world, we can observe and be touched by acts of kindness. People from all walks of life, faiths, and cultures extend themselves beyond the call of duty to help others unconditionally. Through their noble deeds, humanity as a whole is elevated.

To commend virtuous actions and encourage more people to be inspired by their examples, Supreme Master Ching Hai has lovingly created a series of awards, including the Shining World Leadership Award, Shining World Compassion Award, Shining World Hero and Heroine Awards, Shining World Honesty Award, Shining World Protection Award, Shining World Intelligence Award, and Shining World Inventor Award, to recognize some of the most exemplary, generous, caring, and courageous people who walk amongst us.

What we have seen are God’s creation too, similar to ourselves. It is very cruel to hurt them, to cage them, to trade them, because they are balancing our natural habitat. Therefore, let us work together to save our planet and do not harm them, do not eat them.

Situated in Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia, the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center is a non-profit non-governmental organization that has been protecting and conserving Indonesia’s wildlife since 2001. For providing loving care and shelter to the animals, Supreme Master Ching Hai recently honored the Center with the Shining World Compassion Award.

Mr. Bapak Budiharto, wildlife manager and the head of the Center’s public relations department now explains why the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center was created.

We founded this place because we, as fellow wildlife activists, were very concerned about seeing so much wildlife trafficking in Indonesia. With so much illegal trafficking, with people doing wildlife trafficking so freely we thought, what should we do to save all this wildlife?

Strongly supporting the Indonesian government’s endeavors to safeguard endangered species, the Center takes in those animals confiscated from wildlife traffickers by the Natural Resources Conservation Agency which is part of the Indonesian forestry department. The Center also accepts wild animals illegally kept by private citizens who later decide to comply with national wildlife protection laws and release them.

Our main activities are actually taking care of and rehabilitating animals who live here. Those are our main activities. Usually after confiscation by the forestry department, those confiscated animals and those animals voluntarily handed over by the community are kept in our place. We take good care of them so that they can recover. After that, we schedule them to undergo rehabilitation and at the last stage they will be set free into their natural habitat. Thus, the main purpose is that we take good care of the animals here after the confiscation process.

The Center holds training sessions to teach everyone from the Forest Police to students of all levels to recognize protected wildlife species. Seminars are also held to help raise public awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation and the various Indonesian environmental laws.

Whether it is called the Green Peafowl whether it is called the orangutan whether it is called the Java Gibbon etc.; we want them to live in the forest, not in this kind of place or in the zoo because animals who live in the forest will manage the ecosystem for all of us.

Let’s now meet Joli, one of the many friendly residents of the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center.

His name is Joli. Come here Joli. This is a species endemic to Java. This one is called “Javan Gibbon, Hylobates moloch,” a very rare protected species, and exists on the island of Java only. That’s why it is called Javan Gibbon.

He is on the Appendix I CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). You can’t trade them at all, because they only exist on the island of Java. Their population has decreased a lot due to habitat degradation, less habitat, hunting, and illegal trading. Here Joli, here…

What does Mr. Budiharto see as the keys to halting the destruction of endangered wildlife and their illegal sale in markets?

First of all, we should never purchase any wildlife, never commercialize or trade any form of wildlife body or body parts. Their skin and any body parts should not be commercialized.

Second, never consume wild animals or their processed products, etc. Those are our simple ways to save the wildlife, so that they can live. So let us save Indonesian wildlife together. Do not keep them at home, do not trade them, and do not use any fashion accessories which are made from them.

Wildlife conservation is very important. First because it reflects our wealth of natural resources. Wildlife is Indonesia’s treasure and they should not live inside people’s houses, they must live in the wild since in the forests they are able to proliferate well. When a species becomes extinct, we can’t put a price tag on it. How much for each – how much money? Say the Javanese Tiger becomes extinct or the Balinese Tiger vanishes, how much would that be? So we would still like to see Indonesian wildlife existing in the future for our children and grandchildren. That is our goal.

Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television. We’ll be right back with more about the compassionate Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center.

Welcome back to the Shining World Compassion Award series featuring the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center in Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia which rehabilitates endangered species confiscated from wildlife traffickers by the nation’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency and then releases them back into their natural habitats.

The facilities here are quite well equipped. As we can see, there is a veterinary clinic facility which we usually use to take care of our animals every day. Then there are waterbird cages, we have an eagle cage over there; there is a quarantine cage for Cassowary.

All animals that come to the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center go through a variety of stages of rehabilitation, with the ultimate stage being release back into the wild.

When this eagle came, it followed the process and then we will set it free in the wild. So we have to go through this to check them. Like for example, are they in good physical condition? Do they have a good survival instinct? When they pass that then they will temporarily stay in the bigger pen at the back.

There is a bigger enclosure pen, where they can fly. Then we will bring them to the forest. We train them to live near the wild for 30 days, then we set them free. This is the process we go through with the eagle raptor before releasing him back into their habitat.

Orangutans are the largest living tree animals. They build nests with branches and leaves and sleep aloft amidst the greenery at night. Scientific research shows that about 97% of an orangutan’s genetic makeup is the same as a human’s.

Right now we are at the primate’s pen. And we will be feeding them.

These boxes are called “enrichment.” Inside these boxes there are fruits which will feed orangutans. To make their life not too boring, we try to engineer a bit of food-related activities so the animals have a bit to do. We called this enrichment. Food enrichment.

There are three large monkeys in the world. In Indonesia this is the only one, the Orangutan. They usually stay here for three months. We set them free on the island of Borneo, straight to BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation). We bring them to BOS.

Sea turtles have been present in the oceans for over 200-million years and have seen the dinosaurs come and go. Unfortunately their continued survival is threatened and the Center is helping to preserve this precious species.

The turtle is an animal who can migrate up to Australia. These turtles are unique; they lay eggs in Sukabumi, and they hatch in the sand there. They can migrate for a period of 30 years, then when the time comes to lay the eggs, they will return to their original place of birth.

For the Center’s dedicated care of the animals, Supreme Master Ching Hai recently honored it with the Shining World Compassion Award. The following is an excerpt from a warm letter Supreme Master Ching Hai sent to the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center, which accompanied a splendid crystal Award plaque:

This Award is presented in recognition of your outstanding humane efforts to provide food and comfort to the wildlife under your care, ensuring we have a wide variety of species to colour our world for many generations to come. We laud your endeavours to care for our co-inhabitants and your heartfelt unconditional self-sacrificing work, tirelessly overcoming challenging economic conditions to feed these innocent and precious animals.

For selflessly providing for the needs of endangered animals, for your devotion, wisdom, creativity and kind-hearted generosity, and for being a dedicated and noble role model, we hereby applaud and celebrate the great compassionate deeds of the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center with special thanks to wildlife manager, Mr. Budiharto. With Great Honour, Love and Blessings, The Supreme Master Ching Hai

Thank you, Supreme Master Ching Hai.

In addition to gifting the Center with her international #1 bestselling book, “The Noble Wilds,” Supreme Master Ching Hai also lovingly sent a contribution in the form of a check for US$ 20,000 to support the continued operation of the Center.

On behalf of my colleagues at Cikananga Wildlife Sanctuary, we are very grateful to Supreme Master Ching Hai. We could not believe our eyes and are very surprised with Master’s kind assistance. We did not expect this, and this will provide us with power to do more for Indonesia’s wildlife. Thank you so much for your attention Master Ching Hai.

Frankly, managing this 14 hectare site requires a substantial amount of funding. The funds that are needed today are difficult to raise in order to keep up our fight to rescue Indonesia’s wildlife. And we are grateful to Master Ching Hai who has supported this activity, who has encouraged us to keep fighting and protecting the rights of wildlife in Indonesia. It was very inspiring to read her books that she published and we read them here.

We give our thanks to the Center, including Mr. Budiharto and the wonderful staff, for creating a haven that is healing and rehabilitating the precious wildlife of Indonesia every day. May Heaven bless the Center for all its noble work.

Be Veg, Go Green and Save the Planet.

For more details on the Cikananga Wildlife Rescue Center, please visit CikanangaWildlifeCenter.org

Affectionate viewers, it was our pleasure having your company today on this edition of the Shining World Compassion Award series. Up next is Enlightening Entertainment after Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. May love always fill your life.

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