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11 orangutans brought home from Thailand, Malaysia long after being smuggled out

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Jakarta Post - December 18, 2020

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta – The Indonesian government and authorities in Thailand and Malaysia have brought 11 Sumatran orangutans back to Indonesia long after they were rescued from illegal wildlife trade networks.

The Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok and Thai authorities repatriated two of the orangutans, a male and a female, both six years old and weighing 25 kilograms.

The two primates had been in the care of Thailand's Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) at the Khao Prathap Chang Wildlife Breeding Centre in Thailand's Ratchaburi province for four years, while Thai authorities were investigating the illegal trade.

From Malaysia, local authorities and the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia brought four male and five female orangutans, aged around six to seven years and weighing 15 kg to 20 kg, back to Indonesia.

The nine orangutans had been in the care of the Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia at the National Wildlife Rescue Centre (NWRC) in Perak, while local authorities were wrapping up their investigation.

Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand Rachmat Budiman and Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono, respectively, oversaw the return process from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur as the orangutans were flown to Indonesia on separate Garuda Indonesia flights on Thursday.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry's Natural Resources and Ecosystems Director General Wiratno, along with other officials, welcomed the 11 orangutans at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday.

Soon after the arrival, a team of veterinarians and animal quarantine workers inspected each of the apes and fed them. The animals were then brought to the Warehouse Rush Handling at the airport ahead of their connecting flights to Sumatera.

Wiratno said the return of the orangutans from Thailand coincided with 70 years of Thai-Indonesian diplomatic relations and strengthened the two countries' efforts in biodiversity conservation.

"We hope that this cooperation can be improved to prevent smuggling of orangutans or other species. Because one smuggled baby orangutan also threatens the lives of its mother in its natural habitat," Wiratno said in a written statement on Thursday.

He said the loss of even one orangutan was dangerous, as they are part of seed dispersal animals in the forests that play a key role in maintaining the biodiversity of their habitat.

He also expressed his gratitude to the governments of Malaysia and Thailand as well as to the Indonesian embassies for rescuing Indonesia's endemic species with a diplomacy approach.

The nine orangutans from Malaysia were scheduled to be flown to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatera, on Friday to be quarantined and rehabilitated by the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).

Meanwhile, the two orangutans from Thailand would be sent to Sultan Thaha Airport in Jambi to undergo quarantine and rehabilitation by the Jambi BKSDA.

The authorities plan to release the orangutans into their natural habitats after their rehabilitation.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/12/18/11-orangutans-brought-home-from-thailand-malaysia-long-after-being-smuggled-out.htm

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