Environmental activists have derided the Indonesian justice system as ineffectual in protecting the country's most recognizable threatened species, the Sumatran tiger, after prosecutors demanded just 3 million (about 340 US dollars) in fines in a poaching case. Local media reported on Friday.

In a rare case of an endangered species trader actually ending up before a judge, the suspect was caught red-handed with a Sumatran tiger skin in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, in March. "In the Payakumbuh case, the trader purchased the tiger skin for 25 million rupiah (about 2,799 US dollars) in cash, while the sentencing demand was just 3 million rupiah. Meanwhile, he was planning to sell the skin on for 150 million (about 16,700 US dollars). A fine of just 3 million rupiah is a joke for someone like him," Retno Setiyaningrum, a legal and policy officer for conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia said on Thursday.

The trader is thought to be a "big fish" in the illegal trade, buying skins from poachers and selling them on to wealthy buyers, possibly overseas.

Sumatran tigers are considered a subspecies, genetically distinct from mainland tiger populations due to around 12,000 years of isolation after the Holocene sea level rose. There are estimated to be less than 400 individuals surviving in the wild, while two more subspecies have already become extinct, the Bali tiger in the 1950s and the Javan tiger in the 1970s.

Activists say a larger fine is needed to provide a deterrent against poaching of the endangered species.

Retno asked whether the justice system was serious about defending the interests of wildlife in Indonesia.

"The speed at which the Sumatran tiger is headed for extinction isn't taken into account, so there's no deterrent effect," she was quoted by the Jakarta Globe as saying.

Retno added that the law allowed for fines of up to 100 million rupiah (about 11,190 US dollars) and prison sentences of up to five years. The recent prosecution in the Payakumbuh case requested a prison term of three years. Another WWF staffer, Osmantri, gave examples from Riau, which contains much of the remaining tiger habitat. "From 2001 to 2011, there were five arrests made for trade in Sumatran tigers in Riau province, but only one made it to court," Osmantri said. From 2005 to 2010, at least 40 tigers were known to have been killed in the province.

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