Thai minister says zoo's illegal orangutans to be moved

October 16, 2004

JAKARTA/BANGKOK (DPA): Thailand, under growing pressure to repatriate some

100 orangutans allegedly smuggled into the country from Indonesia, plans to

shift the apes from a private zoo to a safe centre, probably in Chiang Mai,

a minister said on Thursday.

" We've started to prepare a place for the orangutans, one option is in

Chiang Mai, " said Thai Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit

Khunkitti. " My concern is for their safety. "

Thailand was criticized by conservationists and Indonesian forestry

officials attending the 13th conference of the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), which ended on

Thursday, for failing to speed up the repatriation of an estimated 100

orangutans that were illegally purchased by Safari World, a Bangkok-based

private zoo.

A group of Indonesian activists also demonstrated outside the Thai embassy

in Jakarta on Thursday, demanding an immediate repatriation of endangered

orangutans from Safari World.

The protestors criticized the Thai government's slow pace in returning the

species to their natural habitat in Indonesia, adding that the orangutans

boxing show at Safari World not only violates CITES but also " neglected

animal welfare values " .

In Bangkok, Suwit insisted the case was undergoing " due process of law " , and

the government was powerless to force the attorney general to hasten the

trial of Safari World's owner Pin Kewkhacha who last month admitted that at

least 47 of his zoo's 115 orangutan population had been purchased illegally.

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