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  • From: Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [monkeywire] Thai Scientists Begin Probe in Big Orangutan Case
  • Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:37:50 -0700 (PDT)

http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=orangutan&ei=UTF-8&n=20&fl=0&x=wrt

Thai Scientists Begin Probe in Big Orangutan Case

Mon Sep 20, 6:54 AM ET

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai scientists began an investigation Monday into what
some
conservationists believe could be the world's biggest case of ape smuggling
-- nearly 100
orangutan found in a Bangkok amusement park.

Researchers from Thailand's Kasetsart University began collecting hair,
saliva and blood
samples from the Safari World apes for DNA tests which should determine
whether the
endangered orangutan were smuggled in from Indonesia.

"This case is actually very significant," said Edwin Wiek, director of the
Wildlife
Friends Rescue Center that treats abused animals near Bangkok.

"We've had cases of seven or eight chimpanzees being smuggled, but there's
never been a
case so big. Over a hundred orangutan found only in one place," he said.

Experts say the DNA testing will pinpoint the birthplace of the orangutan to
within a few
hundred kilometers in an investigation reaching a climax as Thailand prepares
to host an
international environment conference in October.

If the orangutan are found to be from Indonesia, they will be repatriated and
the owners
of the Safari World amusement park would be prosecuted, police say.

The owners of Safari World said initially their 115 orangutan were a result
of a
successful breeding program, but have now admitted buying a number of them
illegally,
police investigator Aroon Promphanapes told Reuters.

"The owners said they got 45 of the orangutan through an exchange with
someone in
Thailand. Who they made the deal with and what they exchanged for the
animals, we do not
know yet," he said.

The DNA results should be known in about a month, when hundreds of delegates
meet in
Bangkok for the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES)
conference.

"I think we should really consider for the future how these cases are dealt
with," Wiek
said.

"In the 10 months that this case has been going, the animals are still in the
same place,
13 of them have died in circumstances we don't know about and I'm really
concerned about
the welfare of these animals," he said.

Indonesia has also expressed concern for the animals with protesters
demonstrating
outside the Thai embassy in Jakarta last month to demand the immediate return
of the
orangutan.

Fewer than 30,000 orangutan are left in the jungles of Malaysia and
Indonesia.

Animal rescue groups have offered to pay for the repatriation of the animals
if they are
found to have come from Indonesia. The apes will then need to be
rehabilitated and
released into the wild in a process which could take several years.








  • [monkeywire] Thai Scientists Begin Probe in Big Orangutan Case, Josh Greenman, 09/20/2004

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