Guest guest Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 Saturday December 17, 2005 The Star Orang utans on their way home to Sumatran jungle BY LEE YUK PENG MALACCA: Six of the seven Sumatran orang utans smuggled into the country four years ago left Malacca Zoo yesterday for Indonesia. The primates, listed as a critically endangered species, will be rehabilitated and subsequently set free in the wild. The six – called Hamid and Afa (males), and Jane, Lita, Mena and Ning Ning (females) – spent the night at the animal hotel at the KL International Airport. They would board a flight to Jakarta today en route to Medan, accompanied by Sumatran Orang Utan Conservation Programme officers. Another orang utan at Johor Zoo will be repatriated later. " I am glad that they have a chance to return to their original habitat, " said Malacca Zoo director Mohd Nawayai Yasak. The Star reported yesterday that the repatriation of the orang utans would mark the first regional cooperation in combating illegal trade in wildlife. The orang utans, aged between six and seven, were smuggled in and used as show animals by a theme park. The decision to return the primates to Indonesia was a result of a peninsula-wide DNA fingerprinting exercise by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks since May after a member of the public reported the animals. The Government decided to repatriate seven of the 58 orang utan tested after the results showed that they were of the Sumatran (Pongo abelii) species endemic to the island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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