Childless couples eye orang utans<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Baby orang utans are being abducted and
\nreared by desperate childless couples in Malaysia, a newspaper
\nreported here yesterday.<\/p>\n
The couples shave the body hair off the orang utans to make
\nthem look more human, Edwin Bosi, an officer at the Sepilok Orang
\nUtan rehabilitation center in eastern Sabah state, told The Star
\ndaily.<\/p>\n
The wild animals were brought up thinking they were humans and
\nlater abused when they began to wreak havoc in the homes, Bosi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"The problem usually begins when an orang utan grows older. At
\nthat time, it will bite and becomes too active for human care,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes out of irritation, these couples or their family
\nmembers abuse and hack them to death."<\/p>\n
Bosie cited one case of a family that took an orang utan as
\ntheir "youngest child", named him Ramadhan, and kept him dressed
\nin a T-shirt and nappies. Ramadhan ate human food and slept in an
\nair-conditioned room.<\/p>\n
"But when he turned three, it was too much to handle. So the
\nfamily returned it to our center for rehabilitation. Ramadhan
\ncried for many days, refusing to eat," Bosi said.<\/p>\n
An average of three or four cases a month were reported of
\npeople keeping the apes illegally and abusing them, and rangers
\nhad to be sent to the plantations to bring them back to the
\ncenter, he said.<\/p>\n
The Orang utan is a protected species under the Fauna
\nConservation Ordinance 1963 and Bosi warned that those who hunt
\nthem are liable to a five-year jail term upon conviction.<\/p>\n
For other general offenses against the orang utan, those found
\nguilty face a maximum fine of 5,000 ringgit (2,000 dollars) and a
\nyear's jail.<\/p>\n
The project director for the World Wide Fund for Nature in
\nSabah, Junaidi Payne, was reported by The Star saying such cases
\nwere new to him.<\/p>\n
"We will assist the state government to conserve sufficient
\nprotected areas and ensure the animals are retained," Payne said.<\/p>\n
"Orang utans are among the most intelligent of wild primates.
\nKeeping them in captivity is certainly not the proper thing to
\ndo."<\/p>\n
Officials said it was an irony that while lonely childless
\ncouples turned to the apes out of desperation, there were still
\npeople who dumped babies born out of wedlock.<\/p>\n
A total of 276 abandoned babies have been reported in the past
\nfive years.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/childless-couples-eye-orang-utans-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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