Orangutans come home

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Twelve orangutans which were illegally smuggled to Taiwan were returned to the Samboja Forest Research and Development Center in their natural environment.

The endangered apes were brought back in successive groups as the cages were too big to be accommodated in the passenger cabin.

The research and development center, which works with the socialization of the ape, received orangutans last year from animal lovers in Taiwan.

Socialization activities, which are supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature, are meant to preserve the animal. As of last month, 80 orangutans of all ages were still living at the center.

Some 40 of them have been released into the Sungai Wain natural forest and 14 more are ready to follow.(pwn)