Reports from Jakarta say large numbers of rare and protected animals are being smuggled out of Indonesia with the complicity of officials.

The Kompas newspaper, citing its own investigation, claims people from countries such as Japan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Malaysia and Iran visit Indonesia regularly to buy wildlife at two main animal markets in Jakarta.

The newspaper says police occasionally raid the markets but return empty-handed because the sellers hide the rare and protected species at homes nearby. The smuggled species include tigers, bears, monkeys, birds and snakes.

Indonesian authorities recently arrested three Kuwaitis at Jakarta's international airport for failing to produce quarantine documents for nearly 250 birds or animals. They also arrested a Japanese man for smuggling 85 rare animals or birds.