⁠I Went Undercover in an Illegal Exotic Animal Market

I go inside one of the largest wet markets, also known as an exotic animal market, in Indonesia.

Forrest Galante is a world-renowned wildlife biologist and TV Host. His mission is to inspire and educate people about animals and adventure through the media, including hosting programs on Discovery Channel, on-camera expert interviews, and production of his own wildlife and natural history shows.

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[huangary]

As someone who’s born and raised in Jakarta, I’m extremely grateful that you’re exposing the scale of the illegal exotic pet trade here. Indonesia has so much biodiversity to offer, yet this is how the local government treats it (if they wanted to they could create alternative jobs and improve the livelihoods of locals so they no longer need to rely on the illegal pet trade just to get by). With that being said, the more of these videos are being made, the more people (even locals like myself) would be aware of these abhorrent practices. So please continue the amazing work that you’re doing and raise awareness about issues such as these 🙏

[ForrestGalante]

Do you want me to go visit more exotic animal markets around the world?

[miket]

Apart from being a depressing video I love the way Forrest knows how to push it right to the limit before getting out. His travels have taught him well.

[saint]

And he did it so professionally and calmly. No dramatic protest that gets nowhere. Just calmly quietly exposing the scene, and calmly leaving. Fantastic. Thanks!

[MasonYaskovic]

I'm so happy you mentioned that buying the animals to release them into the wild contributes to the problem. The whole first half of the video I was hoping to see you buy one and release it, and you addressing the problem really opened my eyes to the impact that has. Fantastic video.

[sayonfoxx]

The voice break on saving every single animal is so relatable. These places make you upset, angry, pity, and sadness. Pretty much feeling like there is nothing you can do in the moment and knowing every animal there will not be saved and even the ones that are feed to the trade.

[kaitlinkaine]

This was heartbreaking to watch. Thank you for educating and exposing the reality of these markets.

[tommmm]

appreciate you bringing awareness to this🖤

[Tommy-zgyd]

It impresses me how much you re able to keep your calm and not show much emotions knowing how much you love wildlife, that must be so tough!

[somebody]

You should try to get a small camera that is lower profile.

It might take lower quality video, but it would probably be worth it to get into places like this without causing unnecessary tension.

It would also have the benefit of being easily transported.

[MarcoReekers]

I couldn't continue watching the video. But I wanted to leave a comment anyway to help push the algorithm. Please keep shining a light on this. Animals should be our companions by choice. Not by force.

[michellelloyd]

The way a society treats animals is a reflection of how they treat their citizens. You would have to be heartless not to feel for these poor creatures. Thank you for a gritty and brutally candid video and for your ability to remain polite and calm.

[stewiek]

Honestly, quality of phone videos with bluetooth mic these days are decent enough to go undercover without being too in your face.

[soul_less_]

I'm a zoologist from malaysia and i'm glad we're more strict when it comes to wildlife. there's still few people that loves to catch wild animals, called it "rescued" and keep it as a pet. but i totally agreed with red eared slider. people around me thought red eared sliders are native because it's way too many here. but the fact is, they used to be someone's pet but released into a wild and it's just became invasive. we have that problem here as well.

[etherscholar]

"Stay on your toes here Mitch" - from Forrest, those are words to fear. Awesome work guys, this is the real stuff.

[AaaBbbiiii]

This video had me in tears, because of how horrible those conditions are and how much I love animals, specially the the owlets. Right after I was suggested the video of the private tour of a billionaire's rescue centre and started crying happy tears.

[danishhakeemmaruf]

I am from Indonesia, here in Jakarta too. It is a dream of mine to protect these exotic and beautiful animals. I've been trying to figure out the problems regarding our wildlife and frankly I've never fully realized that one of the problems had been in front of my face this whole time, right where I live. Hopefully I can become a part of a generation that truly cares about these living beings. It's truly a disappointment and a relief that a person so Impactful to wildlife conservation like Forrest makes videos of this and hopefully we can be a vibrant nation full of wonderful biodiversity instead of a polluted and inhabitable wasteland.

[kingrxm]

Bro is carrying around worlds biggest shoulder mounted videography setup surprised he didn’t get kicked out sooner 😂

[SirLiamothy]

this ia actually one of the most disgusting things ive ever seen, especially the civet that had its teeth pulled and the monkeys with mange. Its tragic how some people have such a disregard for animals and their wellbeing

[been_beeny]

Pushing right into the heart of animal cruelty, i love it. No fear of danger, no boundaries on words, just flat out, telling how it is, and describing the poor and absolute horrendous state these animals are in, good on you