Orang utans to go to Indonesia
September 28th, 2007
MALACCA: Four orang utans that were found not to be of a species found in Malaysia have been returned to Indonesia.
Malacca Zoo director Mohd Nawayai Yasak said the four were from the pongo pygmaeus wurmbii species normally found in the forests of Borneo.
He said the origins of the four, named Mamat, Minah, Dodi and Linda, was discovered after the Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department carried out DNA tests on all 60 orang utans in the country, including in zoos and theme parks.
“It was found that these four orang utans were different from the other species. There were no details of how they were acquired,” Nawayai said.
He said Dodi and Linda have been in the Malacca Zoo for the past five years while Mamat and Minah were seized from a theme park for not having the necessary permits 10 days ago.
Malaysia is a member of the Convention of International Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).
CITES requires an animal to be sent back to its country of origin if it does not have proper import certification and cannot be established how it was brought into the country.
Nawayai said the orang utans would be handed over to the Indonesian Forestry Department.
They are scheduled to fly to Jakarta from KL International Airport today and would go through a rehabilitation programme before being sent to Kalimantan.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news
Entry Filed under: World Tourism News
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