WILD WATER BUFFALO RAOUND-UP IN LAMPUNG Tulang Bawang, a district in lampung province, is own for its communities of water

buffalo breeders. Inthe dry season, thousands of water buffalos are let loose in the adjoining forest, to prevent them from damaging farmland. From january to april, these water buffalos are herded back to the marshlands near the village, where they are penned and sold, either for their meat, or to be let loose in the wilds to breed. Transactions can run in the billions of rupiah. Yet this 300-year old tradition faces possible extinction, as the government ponders converting the marshes into farmland. Scores of water buffalos thrashed around the muddy waters of Rawa (swamp) Pemokou Four outboard motored boats two on either side of the herd pushed them inland, 20 kilometers away, towards the shores of the Tulangbawang marshland in Lampung The people on the boat helped in the round-up by yelling and prodding the buffalos with bamboo poles, to keep them moving and preventing them from straying On the banks of the swamp, communal elders chanted a traditional tune, welcoming the buffalos and praying the marshland remained waterlogged. we hope our buffalos will return to us with many young ones and will be left in the forest or drif downstream where many drown, said sahlan bukhin, 56, a villager in the neighboring district. They were talking part in an ageold water buffalo-herding ritual, know as ngegikhing kebau, as witnessed by tempo two weeks ago. The menggala people of tulang bawang are unique water buffalos breeders. In the dry season, some 3000, buffalos are left to graze in the forests surrouding the marshland. From about January to april, the Buffaloes are herded back to their pens or enclosures. Some of them are sold or slaughtered for traditional ceremonies. Owners identify their livestock by the marks on their bufflaos ears. Which are slightly cut, branded or pierced. They can only round up their buffalos during the wet season, when the marshland is inundated. At this time, buffalos wallow in the muddy waters, instead of roaming in the forest, which makes it easier for herder aboard their boats to round up the buffalos herd them towards land. water buffalos are basically wild animals. They cannot be tamed and kept on land or they go berserk, said ahmad asik, 57, a communal leader and buffalo expert from palembang village. The herding process is intended to tame the animals into a passage-way aboutttt five kilometers away from the swamps edge, built by the local people in early January, when water begins to flow back into the marshland. The fence is made of bamboo poles with one meter high and five meters wide green plastic sheets, serving as walls attached to the poles. Once the water buffalos enter this corridor, as if in a trance they accept their lot an d follow directions, in drastic contract to the free wallowing earlier in the day. Buffalos are scared of the green color and the sound of wind -blow plastic sheets. We learnt this methode from our ancestors, said Sahlan. Previously , the villagers used f abric before switching to the cheaper and more durable plastic sheets. After passing the two-kilometer taming phase, the buffalos head on their own towards the land, entering the kandang bebonoh, another passage-way covered with wood 1.5 meters high, in the form of the letter S and about 50 meters long. Its entry gate is five meters wide, tapering to a width that only allows one buffalo at a time to reach the other end. The experts Sahlan and Ahmad Asik wait on shore to examine the livestock. Ahmad Asik as head of the kandang (pen or enclousure) is responsible for the round-up and herding, including the condition of the passageways. Sahlan, who is the head of the padang(field), is in charge of swamp control, ownership and administration, and settle disputes. On that day, they checked the buffalosears to match them with their rightful owner, as listed in the big log book they held. After the scuriinty, owner would claim their buffalos and tie their horns with ropes and herd them to their sheds. Female buffalos were driven to the barns first so their offspringstillunmarkedwould follow. People would immediately notice any addition to their herd.

Within several days, the young buffalos would be marked and duly recorded in the padangs log book. Their owners would pay the customary RP. 10.000 perhead of buffalo. The money is spent on swamp maintenance, dispute setlements and for medical treatment when anyone is attacked by the buffalos, added sahlan. Sometimes, there are missing buffalos. In this case, the padang chief hat to wait for reports from neighboring villages. When stray buffalos are found, he will pick them up and pay a fine of Rp.200.000 to the neighbors. The money compensates for the pasture on which the buffalos have grazed. After the sorting, the buffalos remain in their sheds for three months. This phase is traditionally called ngandang kibau. Here the animals are treated like guests in a five-star hotel. They dont need to forage for their food, it comes to them. At midday, they are taken for a dip in the swamps, where they will wallow in the cool muddy water while chewing on grass. In May,, as the swamp water recedes, the buffalo are herded into the forest for grazing. It is at this time that the area is awash in white, when the buffalos attract thousands of white starling birds that fly all the way from Canada, stopping in the forests of Rawa Pemokou before migrating onwards to australia. At this time, tulang bawang people turn to catching fish, another source of livelihood for them. The Tulang Bawang community has been taming wild water buffaloes since the 1700s. Four clans carry on this tradition: the peoples of Tegamoan, Buay Bulan, Bauy Aji and Suay Umpu. They control different swamp areas. The 2.000 hectare wide Rawa emokou is the largest, under the management of the Tegamoan Clan. This uffalos are very important to the four clans. They indicate peoples status in the local custom. The more buffalos slaughtered in ceremonies, the higher their position. Economically, buffalos can also serve as a guarantee. those seekong loans are always asked how many buffalos they own, explain Ahmad. Not surprisingly, the price of buffalos is soaring transactions during the season can reach billions of rupiah. A buffalo cost around Rp. 3 million to 15 million, depending on its size and the quality of its horn, said Ahmad. Transactions take place at the respective sheds. Would-be buyer come in trucks to peoples houses and chose the water buffalos of their choice. The buyers are usually custom leaders who need the animals for their customary rituals. However, many others come from as far away as south and west Sumatra provinces. Among them is Salman from Pematang Panggang in South Sumatra. He comes to Menggala every year to buy buffalos there. The wild buffalo meat has a fine aroma when roasted, unlike that of captive-bred buffalos, Said Salman Like Lampung people, South Sumatrans are found of their buffalo meat during rituals and celebrations. Salman has once tried to breed menggala buffalos in this village. But they alwas died. Maybe the grass is different, But they always died. Maybe the grass is dufferent, he said. When Tempo saw him last week, he had bought three buffalos, which he planned to resell during tthe Idul Fitri Holidays. He expects each one of them to fetch Rp. 30 million. This is harvest time for the local people. Safari, 70, a resident of Palembang village, said he can sell five to ten buffalos. This year his buffalos have increased by 20. some of the cows are pregnant. Their calves will be born when they are released, he said, happily. Ahmad and his younger brother, Muhammad Asik, were even happier. The owners of 300 buffalos can sell as many as 20. This year they have an additional 75 water buffalos. Overwehelmed, they seek the help of eight relatives. Their task is to gather grass to feed the buffalos in their sheds. Their pay equals half the value of young buffalos, explained Ahmad, of the uniqu e transaction.

THE fact that fortunes can be made from these water buffalos which need to survive in the mareshland and forests, have len the lokal people to take good car their habitat.Custom leders have imposed various rules.people are banned from poisoning or electrifying fish. The poison contaminates the water grass that is eaten by the buffalos. Electrocution reduces the natural supply of fish.Moreover , starlings will stay away from the swampif there are on insects or slugs to feed on and will instead, turn to the swamp gress. In the dry season, When buffalos return to the forest, communal leaders patrol rawa pemokow marshland.If anyone violates the rules, they will be driven away, or arrested and tried according to the local customs,said Ahmad. The more worrying threat actually come froms the qutside. Many business people are eyeing the swamp to runs it in to hotels or oil palm estates.Two years ago, even the government also tried to con vert the marshland into areble rice paddy-fields. Over a dozen heavy-duty vehicles were overated to dredge the marshes and build canals.Local residentsprotests were ignored. Afret a year of dredging, the project was suddenly abandoned as the canals were flooded during the rainy season. The government apparently made no feasibility study at all.Even then qur buf falos became very frightened,said Ahmad.Rawa pomokau is, For the moment,safe from development. Other areas have not been as fortunate.The swamps in kubu geteng,Bujung ngarai, about two kilometers from pomokou, have shrunk significantlyin size,due to the nearby development of hotels and oil palm plantations. Buffalos can no longer graze freely in the forest. The pattern of water bufallo breeding has changed.In the morning , buffalos are left to wander on the grassland , and in the afternoon they are herded back to their sheds. Bujung Ngarai people di not own as many buffalos as their neinghbors in Palembang village.But we can sell buffalos at any time, said Iksit Warganegara,59,a custom leader in Bujung Ngarai. Only there months in office , Heri Wardoyo said the government had indeed earlier wanted to convert the swamps into paddy fields.He promised not to do it.Now the swamps are protected by international agencies ,like wetlands international,World Wild Foundation, and the UNISCO.Besides serving as buffalo habitat, marshes are the migratory stops of white starlings,he stressed. The government is studying the surveys that have been made so far.According to Heri, the government will draft regulations to conseve the swamp areas.The Tulang Bawang regency administration Will turn the zone into a conservation area and an ecotourism destinational added Heri
AHMAD,CUSTOMARY LEADER BUFFALO EXPERT

WILD WATER BUFFALOS WILL BE EXTINCT IF THE SWAMPLANDS ARE NOT PROTECTED
AHMAD Asik is a respected name around the Tulang Bawang area in Lampung propince, particulary when it comes to water buffalos.The 57 yers old is a breeder of water buffalos, owning 300 and taking care of 150 belonging to others.He is a keeper

of traditions,a water buffalo expert and Tulang Bawangs chief breeder, responsible for rituals involving water buffalos and their shelters.This my heri tage from my grandfather,he told Tempo. Ahmad claims to have a way of dealing with water buffalos.When they go back to their pens, he walcomes them home and cleans them up,all of which he does with love.Even so,there have been times when he escaped being gored by an angry buffalo.Its our tradition,I must keep it going,whatever the risks,said ahmad,who has dealt with the beasts for the fast 40 years.Two weeks ago,ahmad spoke to Tempo correspondent Nurochman Arrazie in his shack,on the edge of rawa pemokou.Excerpts:

How important are water buffalos to the people of Tulang Bawang?

In every ritual,when some one is given a customory title,the person must step on the head of aslaughtered water buffalo.They symbolize power and pride.The person who seeks to borrow mony from his neighbor will be asked how many water buffalos he owns.They are the guarantor of a persons credibility.From the business perspective,they are promising assets.

How do you time a wild water buffalo?

The key is in touching them and patting them gently.Thats how I have treated them for years.When they first get in,they tend to be violent,but after two days in the pen they become tame. But we heard you were once attacked and almost gored to death.

How shoulda violent water buffalo be treated?

You should pretend to be dead.Otherwise,the water buffalo will keep on attacking you. I was attacked and it only left me alone after I Lay absolutely still.We must be careful when a water buffalo becomes nervous and bellows.That means he is hungry and can attack anyone in his way.

You awn the biggest number of water buffalos in Tulang Bawang, about 300 of them.How do you do it ?
I sell only male water buffalos which are over three years old,and female ones over 10 years old which are no longer productive.I have a cow which is 15 years, named waway tengah ,which I continue to keep. She always gives birth to a buffalo when she comes to the enclosure,or pen,after being let loose in the forest.I always look out for her when I lead them home.

There seems to br a plan to convert the swamlands into agriculturalareas,which might affect the life of the water buffalos.What are the villagers doing to prevent his from happening? We are trying to influence the provincial government to issue a regulation that would protect the marshland and the forest.This will not only benefit water buffalo ownerst,but also villagers who earn their living from fishing.Frankly, we feel quite alone in preserving this tradition.Two years ago, the government was going to convert rawa pomokou to an agricultural area.Today, many buffalos have suddenly died,and we still dont know what caused it. Yet the government has never bothered to have the buffalos examined.

HOME FROM THE FOREST

THE light of the full mooonis reflected on the swamps,which the local people of Tulang Bawang call Rawa Pemokou.Not far away,other villagers are busy plantmaking pens or enclosures.All the preparations are to welcome the wild water buffalos back from the forest,where they have spent months grazingand where the female cows give birth to yearlings.The beasts are driven out of the forest,througs the marshes and into the pens.The Whole process of herding them home,according to ahmad asik,57,a customary leader from palembang a village near rawa pomokau can take up to a month.The buffalo herders must

travel 20 kilometers into the forest to find them and round them up for the trip home.As the water buffalos arrive,one by one they are prodded from the swamps and into the pens.They are then treated to a life of luxury by their owners.spoiling them by bringing them gress to eat and bathing them in the swamps everyday.sitting in the water relaxes them,as it cools them down and keep them feeling fresh again,said asik.At night,back in their pens,the owners light fires nearby to keep the buffalo warm.These buffalos are kept in their pens for about four months until the dry season starts again.This is the time when the livestock are released once again,is in bygone days,back into the forest to do their natural thing.The owners hope that when they see their buffalos again the next time,the numbers will have multiplied,and the circle of life will have continued.

BIG BUFFALO,BIG MONEY.

Villagers in Tulang Bawang regency have kept their tradition of raising wild water buffalo since the 1700s.These animals are valuable assets, and a source of livelihood and traditional rituals. WATER splashed wildly as the hooves of hundreds of water buffalo plodded towards pemokou swamp.They all rushed into the water fot a good soak,munching away on grass.Each morning,nine of my men spread grass on the marshes before releasing the buffalo from the sheds.This year,the number of buffalo has grown from 270 to 300 heads,Ahmad asik told Tempo two weeks ago.Asik is the seventh generation descendant of his family to inherit the water buffalo tradition.This tradition began in the 1700s,and can only be found in Tulang Bawang because this is the onlyregionin Lampung which has swamps and grass fields.This region was initially inhabited by four local clans: Tegamoan,Buay Bulan, Buay Aji, and suay umpu. They own the grass fields and marshes inhabited by thousands of white,albino,and spotted water buffalo. Local rituals have a great need for these buffalo. For instance, a buffalo is sacrificed each time a marriage is held,at which time the groom steps on its head.syafri,70,who owns a bout 67 buffalos said, For us these buffalos are like tapis ( the distinctive fabric of lampung ) valuable and a must at every celebration,he said. Nenggih Susilowati from the medan archeological Centre verified this,She once wrote apiece about the role of water buffalos in social life during the megalithic age. She said the water buffalo signify fertility,because ever since the megalithic era, this animal has been used to work the fields.Their large size makes them a source of food. As a result, they are the most priced of all sacrifial beasts. Raising wild water buffalo is no easy task. They cannot be herded like other livestock and always form groups numbering in te hundreds. For that reason, their owners release hundreds of them into the forest- so as not damage nearby farmland. Syahlan Arbukhin, 59, Chief of the Tegamoan Clan, said that, in order to avoid disputes, each buffalo is marked with a sign of ownership. we use the marshes as a means of doing this, Syahlan to Tempo. it is difficu lt to control the movement of the eild buffalos. They like to run in all directions. However,Their movement is limited when they are in the wat er, he added. Thus was born the system of rounding up the buffalos from the forest to the marshes and hearding them into waiting sheds,branding them for identification of ownership, then releasing them back into the forst after a few months. Today, accordinng to Syahlan, there has been a shift in the pattern of buffalo ownership. In the past, water buffalos were only owned by those with the tittle of settan-a tittle for the customary leader of each clan. Overtime buffalo ownership was expanded to include those without the tittle of settan, but still had a high position in the family line. This new generation allows anyone to own buffalos, but they are still raised by descendents of the settan. Iksit Warganegara, a resident of tulang bawang who owns 100 water buffalos, explained that the pattern of ownership changed when the price of buffalo jumped in early 2000. Another change is that outsiders are now allowed to purchased buffalos and entrust them to raised by local residents. The proceeds from the sale of the initial animal or its yearlings are divided equaly between the owner and the herder. Ahmad

Asik is an example of such an arangement. He now raises buffalos belonging to eight different owners, with hope of making a big pfofit.