Three more apes reported dead - Bangkok post THAILAND

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ANIMAL WELFARE - SAFARI WORLD ORANGUTANS

Three

more apes reported dead

 

 

 

The owner of Safari World

claims three more orangutans at the private zoo have died of pneumonia, after

last week's police search found most of the 41 apes the zoo claimed to have

died still very much alive.

 

Zoo owner Pin Kewkacha yesterday showed orangutan hair samples and pictures of

the three apes to the Forestry Police

Bureau to prove they are dead.

 

''The orangutans are dead. I saw them with my own eyes. I have already told the

Wildlife Conservation Bureau just as I always do every time an animal dies at

our zoo,'' he said.

 

Forestry police, meanwhile, said DNA tests to determine the origins of the 110

orangutans kept at the zoo have been completed and results will be known soon.

 

Authorities suspect some of the apes may have been acquired illegally. The zoo

says most are descendants of the original 14 acquired before 1992 when there

was no law prohibiting the selling and buying of endangered animals from

abroad.

 

Last week forestry police raided Safari World for a second time to search for

41 missing orangutans that zoo veterinarian Chatmongkol Pratcharoenwanich said

died of pneumonia and were cremated. The police found all but five of the supposedly

dead apes locked up in cages.

 

Mr Pin said it was a ''misunderstanding''. Only five orangutans had died and

the rest were kept in the zoo's sick bay. The police who raided the zoo on July

30 were not taken to the sick bay because zoo staff feared they might risk

contracting diseases, hence the miscount, he said.

 

If the three new deaths are confirmed, there should be 102 live orangutans left

at the zoo now.

 

Mr Pin earlier surrendered to police to face animal smuggling charges. Also, Mr

Chatmongkol and other staff have been charged with making false statements.