Two smuggled Sumatran orangutans flown home from Thailand

[webfact]

Two smuggled Sumatran orangutans flown home from Thailand

By Juarawee Kittisilpa

 

Orangutans, which were seized from the Thailand-Malaysia border 3 years ago, are pictured in cages before a transfer to Indonesia, at the airport in Bangkok, Thailand December 17,2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two critically endangered orangutans smuggled into Thailand three years ago were returned to Indonesia on Thursday, where they will undergo rehabilitation before being released into the wild.

 

Ung Aing and Natalee, both four-year-old Sumatran orangutans, were taken from a wildlife rescue centre in Ratchaburi province to Bangkok's airport, before being put on a flight to Indonesia where they will initially stay at a rehabilitation centre in Jambi Province on Sumatra island.

 

Before being put on the flight, the pair were fed with bananas and green apples, and cleared of having COVID-19 after taking a test, said Suraphong Chaweepak, a director at the Thai division to protect wild fauna and flora.

 

"This is the fifth repatriation of orangutans back to Indonesia since 2006," Prakit Vongsrivattanakul, an official at Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said at the airport. A total of 71 orangutans have now been repatriated to Indonesia from Thailand.

 

The two great apes were seized on the Thai-Malaysian border in 2017 and after the smugglers were prosecuted, Thailand agreed to send them back to Indonesia, according to a joint statement from Thailand's wildlife and conservation ministry and Indonesia's embassy in Bangkok.

 

Orangutans are poached illegally from forests for food, to obtain infants for the domestic and international pet trade, or for traditional medicine.

 

There are only estimated to be around 100,000 Bornean orangutans left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, while only about 7,500 Sumatran orangutans are thought to remain.

 

In addition to illegal poaching, populations have crashed because of habitat destruction due to large-scale logging and replacement of forests with cash crops such as palm oil.

 

(Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Karishma Singh)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-17

 

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[webfact]

Smuggled orangutans Natalie and Aung-Ing finally head home

By THE NATION

 

 

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has sent two orangutans that were smuggled from Malaysia in 2017 back to their point of origin – Indonesia.

 

The female orangutans, named Natalie and Aung-Ing, were seized at the Padang Besar customs checkpoint in Songkhla province.

 

The primates were quarantined and dewormed before taking their flight back home from Suvarnabhumi Airport on Thursday afternoon.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30399764

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-12-17

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Pesche]

Nice, cheer-up news

[pacovl46]

There’s nothing cuter than Orang-Utan babies. Check them out on YouTube, they’ll melt your heart, if you’re into them that is! ????

[ChipButty]

What happened to the smugglers if you dont mind me asking

[whaleboneman]

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

What happened to the smugglers if you dont mind me asking

I'm guessing they got less time than the orangutans.

[Burma Bill]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

he pair were fed with bananas and green apples, and cleared of having COVID-19 after taking a test

Maybe we should all be eating bananas and green apples!!

[Pattaya Spotter]

What about the lonely gorilla caged up on the roof of the Pata Department Store?