▲Bali Butterfly Park (Taman Kupu-kupu), which Mr. Detati founded (Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia)
The story of a great explorer
--- “Boys be adventurous!” PART 2
The last post introduced the discovery of Detani’s Great Orange Tip (Hebomoia leucippe detanii) by Mr. Detani Hiromi, a Japanese great explorer. In sequel to the previous post, here the author would like to add an interesting story told by Mr. Detani to him when he visited Bali island, Indonesia, and had the opportunity to see him in November 2011.
Now Mr. Detani lives close to the Bali (Dempasar) airport. With the export permit from the Indonesian Government, he sells various insect specimens chiefly from Indonesia to all over the world. He is busy managing his company, using several Indonesian employees.
▲Mr. Detani and his staff
Mr. Detani told the following story.
"Recently my business faces very severe situation because it is hard to find able collectors and the cost for dispatching them is higher than ever. The “Golden era” was 5 years from 1991. In the 1980’s I myself went collecting specimens on various islands, but in the 1990’s I started to send collectors to islands. At that time I was hiring about 30 collectors a month. Suppose you hire 5 men. Here in Indonesia, at least one out of the five does not go to the place where I ordered to visit. He only gets the payment in advance and spends it right away. One or two will go but come back only with poor results. But if one staff is successful, I can get enough profit. Those are the days in the golden era. From 1992 to 1993, insect specimens were gathered from 200 islands.
From 2000, it became difficult to get profit because prices were getting higher. Some able collectors quit and became fishermen aiming at expensive fishes. In addition, the seasonal cycles have become unpredictable since 1996 or around. The boundary between the dry season and the rainy season has become so vague that we cannot predict the good season for collecting the target insects. The last successful experience was in 1997 when Ornithoptera meridionalis, a very rare birdwing butterfly, was found from Timika, Irian Jaya. At that time many insect dealers rushed to my office in Bali to purchase the specimens.
Now not only Japanese dealers but also European and American dealers are visiting my office. It is interesting that I can easily grasp the world economy trend by checking how often they come and buy specimens here. European dealers stopped coming as Euro became weaker around 2010.
I am making effort to check all the specimen stocks by using the office computer to meet the orders from customers immediately. I have been dealing approximately 2,500 species of butterflies and 1500 species of beetles and dragonflies. I would like to increase these numbers."
▲Mr. Detani Hiromi
At his office numerous boxes are piled high everywhere, those boxes contain many rare and interesting species. For insect lovers his office is virtually a “treasure island”. Some enthusiasts spend all days of their stay in Bali by checking specimens from morning to night every day. They never go sightseeing although Bali is a world famous tourist spot.
▲Vast stock of specimens, arranged by each species
Today “Detani” is a familiar name to insect lovers all over the world. Exploring extensively in Indonesia in his youthful days, Mr. Detani is now globally providing many attractive tropical insects for insects lovers. All the Japanese insect lovers are proud of this great explorer and hope his success from now on.
At the center of the Bali island, there is the butterfly park which he established in 1996. Visitors can enjoy watching many birdwing butterflies such as Ornithoptera and Troides in the huge greenhouse. Last November when the author visited there, males and females of Ornithoptera priamus were flying gracefully. Please enjoy the following video.
If you get a chance to visit Bali, go there and enjoy many tropical butterflies up close!
