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Smuggled orang-utans go home
18/12/2005 13:35 - (SA)
Kuala Lumpur - Six Sumatran orang-utans that were smuggled into Malaysia and displayed at a theme park for almost four years have been flown home, reports said on Sunday.
The primates were flown to Jakarta on Saturday aboard a Malaysia Airlines flight dubbed the "Orang-utan special", and transferred to a Garuda flight for their final destination in a Medan wildlife sanctuary, the New Straits Times said.
The decision to return the orang-utans, aged between three and four years old, was made after the wildlife department conducted a DNA finger-printing exercise following a tip-off.
The Sumatran orang-utan is listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) which means they are critically endangered status and cannot be traded.
An estimated 7 500 Sumatran orang-utans remain in the wild.
- AFP
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