Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Unfortunately the Jakarta Post published a letter that they shortened taking out the most important points. Hereunder my letter to the Jakarta Post as it was sent out: Orangutans in Thailand I would like to respond to the accusations of Mr. Sean Whyte in your readers forum and letters to the post regarding the confiscated orangutans in Thailand. It is disappointing to see such an unfounded and grossly inaccurate account from someone that is supposed to be working with others to protect and conserve wildlife. Mr. Whyte says the park authorities have been tight-lipped on the outcome of the DNA check, this is not true as they already in May have concluded that the orangutans were all from different strings of DNA and were not born in captivity. At this moment only two countries can claim origin, namely Indonesia and Malaysia. Neither one of these countries has till now claimed ownership. The Thai authorities have told us they are willing to send the orangutans home soonest possible. He further stated that the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), who take care of the animals lack enthusiasm to send the orangutans back home. Again Mr. Whyte is wrong. The orangutans are currently at a holding facility of the Thai government and not in our care at all, besides this we have made it our main goal to send them back home just as we did in the past cases of 53 orangutans from Thailand and 2 more from Vietnam. It is impossible to keep something you do actually not have. The confiscation of these orangutans is actually a direct result of a WFFT complaint to the Department of National parks. During talks with Thai officials I have been made aware of talks and have seen documents of correspondence between Thailand's and Indonesian CITES offices on the matter, who are slowly to say the least, working on a solution. We as NGO would like to see more speed in this discussion just as Mr. Whyte does, however we have no authority do push for this. Therefore Mr. Whyte blaming us again for being part of the problem is baseless. There are no logical grounds for this unreasonable slander by Mr. Whyte; it is therefore difficult to understand this could be part of any solution. I would also ask for your attention on the point of blaming Thailand completely for the illegal trade in orangutans. Thailand is only one of the many customers of orangutans and other wildlife poached and smuggled out of the jungles in Indonesia by Indonesian poachers and Indonesian animal traders. I have personally been involved with a long dreadful campaign to send the Bangkok Safariworld orangutans back home a few years ago while facing death threats and even ending up in jail in Thailand as a way to stop me fight for the animals, I did continue the fight as I did believe in the cause. I do still believe in this cause however I do question the current adequacy of over-crowded rescue facilities within Indonesia. The WFFT is actively engaged in upgrading one of the Indonesian wildlife rescue centers for the benefit of the confiscated wildlife throughout Indonesia and the WFFT sees this as a long-term commitment. Edwin Wiek Secretary-General Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand http://www.wfft.org/ <Edwin.wiek Tel +66-8-90600906 aapn [aapn ] On Behalf Of Nuntanitz B Friday, August 21, 2009 4:17 PM [bulk] (TH) Orangutans in Thailand http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/08/21/letters-orangutans-thailand.html Letters: Orangutans in Thailand Friday, August 21, 2009 ** Fri, 08/21/2009 1:47 PM | Reader's Forum I would like to respond to the accusations of Sean Whyte in your Readers' Forum (The Jakarta Post, July 31) regarding the confiscated orangutans in Thailand. It was disappointing to see such an unfounded and grossly inaccurate account from someone who is supposed to be working with others to protect and conserve wildlife. Whyte says the park authorities have been tight-lipped on the outcome of the DNA check. This is not true, as they already may have concluded that the orangutans were all from different strings of DNA and were not born in captivity. At this moment, only two countries can claim origin, namely Indonesia and Malaysia. Neither one of these countries has claimed ownership. The Thai authorities have told us they are willing to send the orangutans home as soon as possible. He stated that the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), who take care of the animals, lack enthusiasm to send the orangutans back home. The confiscation of these orangutans is actually as a direct result of a WFFT complaint to the Department of National Parks. During talks with Thai officials, I have been made aware of talks and have seen documents of correspondence between Thailand's and Indonesian CITES offices on the matter, who are slowly, to say the least, working on a solution. We, as an NGO, would like to see more speed in this discussion, just as Whyte does; however, we have no authority to push for this. Therefore, Whyte blaming us for being part of the problem is baseless. There are no logical grounds for this unreasonable slander by Whyte; it is therefore difficult to understand this could be part of any solution. I would ask for your attention on the point of wholly blaming Thailand for the illegal trade in orangutans. Thailand is only one of the many customers for orangutans and other wildlife poached and smuggled out of the jungles in Indonesia by Indonesian poachers and Indonesian animal traders. The WFFT is actively engaged in upgrading one of the Indonesian wildlife rescue centers for the benefit of confiscated wildlife throughout Indonesia and the WFFT sees this as a long-term commitment. Edwin Wiek Bangkok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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