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)