THE JAKARTA POST: Indonesia seeks more orangutans from Thais

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Indonesia seeks more orangutans from Thais

 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

 

Indonesian officials want Bangkok to test another 45 orangutans smuggled

into Thailand, after the Thais agreed to send back 53 of the apes in a

recent deal.

 

The Thai government agreed to return 20 males and 33 females this month, two

years after authorities there rescued 102 of the apes from the private

Safari World zoo near Bangkok, where the animals were made to perform in

daily boxing matches.

 

Four of the orangutans later died in captivity.

 

" We will ask the Thai government to also test 45 other orangutans to see if

the animals are ours, " Forestry Ministry director of biodiversity

conservation Adi Susmianto said Monday.

 

Adi said there were two kinds of orangutans -- the Sumatra orangutan and the

Borneo ape. Sumatra orangutans all came from the Indonesian territory while

Borneo orangutans came from Indonesia and Malaysia, he said.

 

" We will see if some of the (other) 45 are also from Indonesia, " Adi said.

 

He said the ministry hoped to bring the 53 apes back to the country within

two months. If DNA testing had not been completed in Thailand it would be

done by officials here, Adi said.

 

" Thailand asked us for permission to do a final round of DNA testing on all

the orangutans before they were sent back to Indonesia, but we refused to

wait any longer since they don't have any authority to make us do that, " Adi

said.

 

The Indonesian government appreciated Thailand's cooperation in the return

of the animals, he said.

 

" First, the 53 orangutans will undergo several health checks. Second, blood

will be taken from all of the animals to determine their origin. "

 

If some of the 53 orangutans sent to Indonesia were found to have originated

from Malaysia, they will be transferred there, he said.

 

" The Thai government will pay for the tests and Indonesia for the

transportation, " he said.

 

According to Adi, the 53 orangutans will be quarantined in Nyaur Menteng in

Central Kalimantan, a rehabilitation center which can accommodate around 200

apes. The government has also prepared another center in the province, Pasir

Panjang, if Nyaur Menteng can't cope.

 

The government would continue locating and repatriating other smuggled

orangutans, Adi said.

 

" According to our data, there are 22 (orangutans) in Cambodia, seven in

Malaysia, one in Saudi Arabia, and several in Vietnam.

 

" The Saudi Arabia government promised to return the orangutan there after we

communicated with them. "

 

Adi acknowledged government efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade

here were still weak.

 

The country needed to establish joint operations with its neighbors to

eradicate the practice, he said.

 

One orangutan is now worth more than US$5,000 on the open market.

 

According to ministry data there are currently around 57,800 orangutans

living in conservation areas in Borneo and 3,700 orangutans in Sumatra.

 

Environmentalists, however, say the number could be less than half that

total.

 

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