CNN Alerts: Ailing orangutan 'rescued' in Cambodia

June 6, 2006

CNN Alerts: animal alert

Ailing orangutan 'rescued' in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- A sickly, 4-year-old orangutan belonging

to a senior member of the government was rescued Monday in Cambodia,

a wildlife conservationist official said.

Wildlife protection officers recovered the orangutan as it was being

transported from a veterinarian clinic, said Nick Marx of the

U.S.-based organization WildAid.

" We had seen the orangutan being transported along the road, and we

needed to make an inquiry whether it's been illegally imported to the

country, " Marx said. " We conducted the operation because it is an

internationally protected species. "

A government official, Nhem Vanda, told The Associated Press that he

was the owner of the orangutan. He said he had been given the animal

as a gift a month ago and hoped to display it at a zoo in southwest

Cambodia.

Marx has taken custody of the orangutan pending an investigation by

the government into whether it was imported legally or illegally.

CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Flora and Fauna, lists orangutans as endangered, meaning trade in the

animals is tightly restricted.

Despite those restrictions, the smuggling of orangutans is rampant

across Asia where they are illegally displayed in private zoos or

kept as pets. Cambodia, for example, has come under fire from animal

rights groups for refusing to confiscate 22 orangutans that are

forced to entertain tourists by cycling, boxing and skateboarding in

daily shows at a resort casino.

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