Orangutans to return from Thailand!

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Orangutans are returning from Thailand!

 

We have done it! Thanks to the help of our many supporters who sent emails

and letters to demand the repatriation of smuggled orangutans in Thailand, the

orangutans are on the way to BOS’s Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction

Project in Indonesia.

It took a long time (close to 3 years!) but we never gave up the struggle.

Thanks to my colleague, Sean Whyte, from Nature Alert, the campaign was stepped

up in a major way in the recent months, and drew the attention of over 40

organisations worldwide as well as notable individuals such as Sir David

Attenborough and Dr Richard Leakey.

Personally, I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for your support

in this campaign. Many people felt that it would be impossible to succeed, and

we couldn’t have done it without people like you.

Below, please find just one of dozens of press reports released worldwide on

the matter.

All the best from Borneo,

Michelle

Michelle Desilets, Director

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK

 

Blow to Thailand monkey business

 

Sunday 23 April 2006, 8:51 Makka Time, 5:51 GMT [input] Orangutans forced to

perform in a Thailand zoo may soon be returned to the jungles of Southeast Asia,

in a small victory in the struggle against the illegal wildlife trade.

On Friday and Saturday, officials met in Bangkok for the first time to discuss

the best way to handle the orangutans' long-awaited homecoming and decided to

send them to Indonesia while awaiting results of DNA tests.

 

The animals, smuggled into Thailand, were forced to perform boxing matches for

visitors at a Bangkok zoo, as spectators snapped photos.

 

But now, more than 50 orangutans may finally go home.

 

Sean Whyte, chief executive of Nature Alert, a non-profit environmental group,

said: " We're sending a strong signal that the game is over now. Anyone who tries

to make a living selling orangutans will find it very difficult. "

 

The simian saga started in 2003 when government officials raided Safari World,

a zoo in the eastern suburbs of Bangkok, and recovered 114 orangutans.

 

Before their rescue, the apes were forced into donning silk shorts and boxing

gloves, and performing mock kickboxing matches. The show was one of Safari

World's main attractions.

 

Zoo owners claimed the primates were bred in-house, but DNA tests proved that

57 were born outside Thailand, most likely in Malaysia or Indonesia.

 

Awaiting repatriation

 

Officials sent the wild orangutans to the Khao Pratap Chang wildlife preserve

to await repatriation. Three have since died.

 

 

 

Since the case first came to light, the orangutans have been in a

well-publicised tug of war between Thai officials and non-government

organisations.

 

NGOs say the government has been unco-operative and slow in sending the

animals back.

 

The government, however, says it is doing everything to ensure the apes'

survival in the wild, including further DNA testing to determine whether the

apes came from Malaysia or Indonesia.

 

 

Tassannee Vejpongsa, a representative of the WildAid foundation, said if the

tests show the orangutans are from Malaysia, they will be sent there from

Indonesia.

 

Chawann Tuhikorn, Thai deputy chief of national parks, said: " The sooner we

repatriate them, the better, because they will have a greater chance of survival

in the wild. "

 

He added that the government had planned from the beginning to send the apes

back.

 

" We said we would do anything in our power to do it right. We want to do

things properly and through the right channels. "

 

Right direction

 

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) says at least 700 orangutans

are smuggled annually in Southeast Asia, with an estimated 100-300 trafficked

through Thailand alone.

 

 

 

The primates are native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and to Borneo, an

island shared by Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

 

Experts say only about 27,000 remain in the wild and that their numbers are

fast declining because of deforestation and trafficking.

 

Although the Safari World case may set a precedent in the fight against animal

smuggling, the battle is far from over.

 

Willie Smits, BOS chairman in Indonesia, said: " Orangutans are at the tip of

the iceberg. The problem of animal trafficking is much bigger. Governments need

to do more. "

 

But Chawann points out that international alliances, such as the Wildlife

Enforcement Network within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, are

trying to do just that.

 

" Money drives the animal trade, " he said. " We need cooperation and communication

within and among the countries. "

 

Wiek also blamed irresponsible tourism.

 

" People understand that wildlife should not be exploited, " he said. " But they

are still going to monkey shows and getting their pictures taken with snakes and

gibbons. We can only fight it with proper education. "

 

 

 

 

 

Michelle Desilets

BOS UK

www.savetheorangutan.org.uk

www.savetheorangutan.info

" Primates Helping Primates "

 

Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand:

http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733

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