14 orangutans smuggled into Thailand sent home to Indonesia
Source: AP
By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON
BANGKOK (AP) — Fourteen orangutans that were smuggled out of Indonesia and believed to have been put to work at tourist attractions in Thailand were sent home Thursday.
Indonesia's air force sent a C-130 plane to transport the apes, each in a metal cage, for the five-hour trip from Bangkok to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
Indonesia's minister of environment and forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, welcomed the orangutans at Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma Airbase and expressed excitement and gratitude for their return.
"This afternoon, we received back part of Indonesia's treasure, 14 orangutans from Thailand's government," she said, adding that it brought to 68 the total number of smuggled orangutans returned from abroad since 2007.
FULL story and more photos at link.
One of fourteen orangutans waits in a cage to be sent back to Indonesia at a military airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. These orangutans were allegedly smuggled out of Indonesia into a private zoo in Thailand. Thailand and Indonesia have cooperated in the repatriation program to return the primates to their original habitat. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Barito, a female orangutan, waits in a cage to be sent back to Indonesia at a military airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. Fourteen orangutans were allegedly smuggled out of Indonesia into a private zoo in Thailand. Thailand and Indonesia have cooperated in the repatriation program to return the primates to their original habitat. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7253448bd1c74c619d855cffafc63085/14-orangutans-smuggled-thailand-sent-home-indonesia
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