Thai Department of National Parks fails to protect confiscated orang utans.

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For immediate release

 

August 20th, 2004

 

 

Thai Department of National Parks fails to protect

confiscated orang utans.

 

Three more of the 115 allegedly illegally obtained

orang utans were reported dead yesterday at

Safariworld in Bangkok. According to a spokesman of

the zoo they died of pneumonia over the last couple of

days. Although it is normal procedure for confiscated

animals or goods to be moved to the care of the

authorities, in this instance it seems no effort has

been made to find a suitable location to move the

confiscated apes too. The responsible authority, the

Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants,

said they cannot provide space for these apes at their

Wildlife Breeding Centers; the usual facilities that

confiscated animals are relocated to. The apes are now

left to die in totally unsuitable and inadequate

living conditions. Each one of the 115 orang utans is

considered to be vital evidence in the ongoing case

regarding the illegal trade in this endangered

species. To date 13 of the 115 originally found apes

have died under suspicious circumstances.

 

The proposed DNA check of all the remaining apes will

still be pursued by the Forestry Police Division under

command of Police General-Major Swake Pinsinchai with

the (financial) assistance of the BOSF (Borneo

Orangutan Survival Foundation), WFFT (Wildlife Friends

of Thailand) and the TAGA (Thai Animal Guardians

Association). It is intended that the taking of

samples for the DNA-check will start within 14 days.

 

To date the Thai authorities have not spoken out in

favor of the repatriation of the apes to Indonesia if

found that they were indeed illegally obtained from

the wild. The decision whether or not to let the orang

utans leave Thailand will ultimately be up to the-General of the Department of National Parks.

Although CITES (Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species), of which Thailand is a signatory,

has guidelines and recommendations on the repatriation

of confiscated wildlife, this does not mean that the

country involved is obligated to do so. International

pressure strongly supports such a move and from both

an animal welfare and conservation perspective it is

widely believed that repatriation is in the best

interest of the animals involved.

 

It is hard to believe that the Department of National

Parks (DNP) cannot accommodate the obviously illegally

obtained orang utans that so desperately need a safe

refuge, while only a few days ago a group of rescued

and recuperating animals living in perfect conditions

at a specialized NGO-run Wildlife Rescue Center were

brutally and needlessly removed by officials of the

DNP and sent to various centers countrywide.

 

 

Edwin Wiek

-Thailand Representative BOSF

-Director Wildlife Friends of Thailand

 

 

Latest news:

 

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.

 

 

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