Two orangutans confiscated

Two orangutans confiscated

SURABAYA: A crackdown on the illegal possession of endangered
species in East Java has resulted in the confiscation of two
orangutans and a gibbon in the East Java city of Malang.

Authorities from the Natural Resource Conservation, the
Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife Conservation for Life (KSKB)
together with the police confiscated the primates from a house
belonging to Nur Hasyim in Gondanglegi, Malang, on Thursday.

KSKB director Rosek Nursahid said in Surabaya on Friday that
his office learned about Nur Hasyim's illegal possession of the
orangutans after he displayed the animals at a recent development
exhibition at Bululawang Stadium.

Rosek contended that Nur did not have the necessary documents
for keeping the protected animals.

According to prevailing regulations, namely Law No. 5/1999 on
conservation and Government Regulation No. 8/1999, no one can
keep orangutans without presidential consent.

Violations against the law carries a maximum penalty of a
five-year jail term and a Rp 100 million fine.

Rosek said that the confiscated orangutans would be returned
to their natural habitat in Kalimantan, after being rehabilitated
at the Orangutan Reintroduction Center in Semboja, East
Kalimantan.

"Orangutans are in danger of extinction because of forest
fires and illegal hunting.

"Therefore, to protect them, we need people's participation,
including by not purchasing or raising orangutans," Rosek said.
-- Antara