Guest guest Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Vietnam repatriates orangutans to Indonesia Jul 24, 2006 Hanoi - Wildlife conservationists in Vietnam have repatriated to Indonesia Monday two female orangutans they found imprisoned in a hotel in the southern province of Binh Duong. The two animals, thought to be between 2 and 3 years old, were flown from Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport to Jakarta from where they will be taken to a rehabilitation centre in Kalimantan run by the Indonesian authorities. The orangutans were originally spotted at the Thanh Canh Hotel by foreign tourists who called the animal protection hotline run by a Vietnamese non-governmental organization, Wildlife at Risk (WAR). The group then informed the provincial forest guard who recovered the orangutans in a morning raid on July 11. The hotel was also found to be keeping three tigers, at least 70 Asian Black Bears, one clouded leopard, an endangered species, and many other wild animals and birds. The owner of the hotel told investigators that he had bought the two orangutans for 200 million Vietnamese Dong (12,500 dollars). Edwin Wiek of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said he believed both primates had been smuggled into Vietnam from the Indonesia province of Kalimantan on the island of Borneo in the past year. A representative of WAR, Dao Van Hoang praised the swift action of the Vietnamese authorities in repatriating the animals. 'It's taken only two weeks since we found the orangutans to complete all the necessary procedures to return them. In some other countries, for example Thailand and Cambodia' it has taken as long as three or four years,' he said. Orangutans are considered to be an endangered species and trade in them is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to which Vietnam acceded in 1994. Nonetheless the orangutan trade continues to operate across South East Asia, particularly in Thailand and Cambodia. It was not clear how the two recovered orangutans were transported to the hotel where they were found, but investigators believe they either came by boat direct to the Mekong Delta in the south of the country or to a small port in Cambodia and were then smuggled over the land border. The head of Vietnam's Wildlife Preservation Department, Nguyen Huu Dung, pledged to take swift action against any instances of wildlife trafficking, 'We will co-operate with any organizations to rescue wild animals being kept in Vietnam. It is the right thing to do.' A number of organizations are working with Vietnam's authorities to try to prevent animal trafficking. The government is in the middle of a programme to phase out the farming of bears for their bile - which is often drunk with wine for its alleged health-giving properties. The Ministry of Agriculture recently finished implanting microchips in 4,000 kept bears to try to prevent their keepers from buying new animals. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1183543.php/Vietnam_repatriat\ es_orangutans_to_Indonesia ------------------ [Posters note: See page for photos of the orangutans] Smuggled Orangutans confiscated in Vietnam BOSF Forestry Protection Department officials have today confiscated two orangutans from the Tanh Canh Hotel near Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam. The two orangutans were smuggled into the country respectively 7 and 12 months ago from the Indonesian province of Kalimantan on the island Borneo and were kept as attractions for tourists. The hotel also owns alarge amount of Asiatic Black Bears for the extraction of bile used for Traditional and has a small zoo with macaques, civets and birds. Orangutans are great apes and considered endangered, protected under appendix 1 of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) of which Vietnam has been a signatory since April 1994. The raid took place on Tuesday morning the 11th of July at 08:00 AM with the help of NGO`s Wildlife-At-Risk in Vietnam and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) who did send Representative Edwin Wiek and veterinarian Dr. Cheryl MacPherson for medical support. Wiek officially complained to CITES authorities in Hanoi a few weeks ago about the illegally obtained apes. After confiscation the medical team of WAR-Vietnam and BOSF did immediately a full medical check up of both animals. The trade in orangutans has been going on in many South-East Asian countries for many years although illegal; especially in Thailand and Cambodia large amounts of the apes were found illegally kept and the authorities were found reluctant to act against the owners and traders. In one case the repatriation of 53 orangutans from a zoo in Bangkok has been held up for almost three years although the case is considered the biggest case of smuggling of great apes in history. Cambodia has refused to discuss the matter of orangutan smuggling and wants to keep the apes. The Vietnamese authorities have vowed to stop the trade in orangutans within Vietnam and enforce the existing laws on the cross border trade in wildlife. The Director General of the FPD said he will contact his Indonesian counterparts as soon as possible to arrange a speedy repatriation. Afterrepatriation the apes will be placed in a rehabilitation center in Kalimantan of the Indonesian government and released back to wild in due time after the rehabilitation process. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation applauds the swift action of the Vietnamese authorities and wishes to thank the FPD Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as well as Wildlife at Risk for the great cooperation. Edwin Wiek BOSF (the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation) http://www.savetheorangutan.info WFFT (Wildlife Friends of Thailand) www.wfft.org http://www.orangutan.or.id/berita.php?frame=detail & id=232104265326 ------------------ Illegal orangutans from Vietnam to fly home! BOSF July 21st, 2006 In a superb show of international cooperation in wildlife law enforcement between governments and NGO`s, the Vietnamese authorities have agreed to repatriate two young orangutans back to Indonesia, their home, as soon as possible. The two apes were smuggled into Vietnam only months ago and confiscated in a raid on the 11th of July at the Tanh Canh Hotel near Ho Chi Minh City. Both orangutans will be flying home on Garuda airlines flight GA-869 arriving at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta at 17:50 on Monday the 24th of July . It will be the first time that the repatriation, as stipulated under the international CITES treaty (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) has been facilitated this fast, in less than two weeks. The orangutans will be officially handed over on Monday morning at Ho Chi Minh International Airport to the Indonesian Consul at Ho Chi Minh City and Edwin Wiek of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) who will accompany the orangutans on their flight home. A veterinarian of the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand, Dr. Cheryl MacPherson, will travel along with the apes to make sure they have a safe trip home. Officials of the Indonesian CITES authority will take over the orangutans at Jakarta Airport to have the apes go through quarantine procedures in Indonesia. Edwin Wiek (BOSF) At Ho Chi Min City http://www.orangutan.or.id/berita.php?frame=detail & id=283297204324 ............................. 24 July 2006 [Photo] Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM: Edwin Wiek ® from The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and Cheryl Macpherson from Wildlife Friends of Thailand hold two smuggled orangutans 24 July 2006 at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport before they are airlifted back to Indonesia. Vietnam has sent back a pair of smuggled orangutans to Indonesia in a speedy repatriation. http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=71508029 & cdi\ =0 ------------------ Wildlife At Risk http://www.wildlifeatrisk.org/index.php?lang=en & id=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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