Orangutan breeding program set up in Jambi

Orangutan breeding program set up in Jambi

JAMBI: The Ministry of Forestry has provided a two-hectare
area of forest in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park for the
breeding of orangutans, says a local official.

Agus Priambudi, chief of the Natural Resource Conservation
Agency (BHSDA) unit, said here on Tuesday that the project's
breeding program was to be financed by Frankfurt Zoo in Germany.

The program would also include various breeds of orangutan
that are to be donated from North Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"The breeding project is much needed as the world population
of the protected species is decreasing," he said, adding that if
the project was successful, all reared orangutans would be set
free in national parks in West Sumatra, Riau as well as in Jambi
province.

He said H. Pratje, a German wildlife researcher, would be
representing the German zoo in the project. --Antara