Rescued orangutans to go home to RI

Rescued orangutans to go home to RI

MALAYSIA: Seven orangutans snatched from the Indonesian jungle
and forced to work in Malaysia as show animals have been rescued
and are returning home, a news report said on Friday.

The Star newspaper said the orangutans were expected to return
on Saturday, with the help of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation
Program, an Indonesia-based organization run in partnership with
the Zoological Society of Frankfurt.

The apes' return marks a great stride toward regional
cooperation to combat illegal wildlife trafficking, Ian
Singleton, scientific director of SOCP, told The Star.

"The fact that Malaysia acknowledged the illegality of the
collection and made the decision to return the apes is sending
out a strong message that such acts will not be tolerated,"
Singleton was quoted as saying.

Malaysian officials or representatives of SOCP could not
immediately be reached for comment.

The seven apes -- member of a highly endangered species --
will be flown to Jakarta in a Malaysia Airlines flight and
transferred to a Garuda Airlines flight to Medan the same day,
the report said. In Medan, the animals would undergo a three-
month rehabilitation program, the report said.

Afterward, they would be reintroduced to the wild at the Bukit
Tigapluluh National Park in central Sumatra, where they will join
53 orangutans that were rescued from illegal trade in Indonesia
and released there since 2003, the report said. -- AP