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