Japan returns orangutan to RI

Japan returns orangutan to RI

One of four orangutans flown back to Jakarta on Wednesday is
taken out of its cage (above) in a Kobe zoo before departing for
Indonesia.

The four orangutans and two gibbons were returned to Indonesia
after being illegally poached and smuggled to Japan eight months
ago.

After an eight hour flight, the four orangutans will be
quarantined for two days at Ragunan Zoo, South Jakarta, before
being transported to their new homes at the Semboja Orangutan
Rehabilitation Project in East Kalimantan.

The two gibbons will be immediately sent to the Indonesian
Safari Park in Bogor, West Java.

The return of these endangered species has attracted huge
amounts of attention from the general public in Japan.

In a statement received here on Wednesday, the Indonesian
Consulate General in Osaka thanked all parties who helped to
return these animals to Indonesia.

The six animals of endangered species were confiscated by the
Osaka police in June 1999. The Indonesian government through its
embassy in Tokyo then asked the Japanese government to return the
animals by submitting a formal request to the Osaka court.

Export permits were issued on Dec. 12, after which the two
governments then worked closely to facilitate the return of the
six primates.(04)