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Indonesia orangutans given VIP welcome
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Indonesia orangutans given VIP welcome
Forty eight orangutans rescued from a Thai amusement park were given a VIP reception yesterday hosted by Indonesia’s first lady, Kristiani Yudhoyono, to mark the endangered apes return to home soil.
The animal cargo arrived in an Indonesian airforce C-130 transport plane at the capital’s Halim military air base, where US President George W. Bush had also touched down during an official visit to Indonesia on Monday.
“This is a joy of its own for the Indonesian nation with the return of the lost children”, said Yudhoyono, who was clutching an orangutan doll.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the government of Thailand over this orangutan homecoming to Indonesia.”
The smuggled animals were recovered two years after a raid on Bangkok’s Safari World theme park, where many of them had to stage mock kick-boxing bouts.
Safari World’s owners said originally the 115 orangutan seized by wildlife police were the result of a successful domestic breeding programme, even though DNA tests eventually proved many had been brought illegally from Indonesia.
“The biggest threat to the orangutan habitat is hunting and illegal trafficking, turning them into pets,” said Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban, who was also among the dignitaries to welcome home the reddish-brown primates, whose name mean “person of the forest”.
The first lady entered the plane to view the orangutans, which were loaded into metal cages in the hold of the camouflaged plane for their trip from a rescue centre in Ratchaburi, 125 km (80 miles) west of Bangkok.
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