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

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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 reports:

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.

 

Thai probe into orangutan smuggling

MINBURI (Thailand) - Police found 32 frightened,

wide-eyed baby orangutans, many hugging each other, in

their cramped cages at a private Thai zoo - where

workers had said just days earlier that the apes were

dead.

The Safari World zoo was under investigation for

wildlife smuggling, and the discovery of the

endangered animals there added another layer of

intrigue to the case, which highlights Asia's

continuing struggle against the illicit trade.

Advertisement

 

 

The Indonesian authorities, saying they have proof

that the orangutans were smuggled from their country,

have demanded that Thailand speed up its investigation

into the apes' origins.

Orangutans are endangered under the international

Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). The Safari

World case is a major embarrassment for Thailand as it

prepares to host a Cites Meeting from Oct 2-14.

The Thai authorities started investigating the zoo,

just outside Bangkok, last year. A week ago, forestry

police collected hair samples for DNA testing to find

out the origin of more than 100 orangutans at the zoo.

Safari World's owner says they were either born there

or abandoned. Wildlife advocates say that cannot be

true.

'There was constant lying,' said Mr Willie Smits, an

expert from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation

in Indonesia. He said the orangutans' ages and the

ratio of males to females make it impossible that so

many of them were bred at the zoo.

'They're almost all from central Kalimantan,' he said,

referring to a part of Indonesia on Borneo island.

'That species is not found elsewhere but in

Indonesia.'

When the police first visited Safari World in November

2003, they counted 115 orangutans. In July, 41 were

missing. Employees said they had died from diarrhea

and respiratory diseases.

'We had to burn them to prevent the spread of the

disease,' a zoo worker said this month.

Police did not believe the zoo's staff. They returned

later and found the missing orangutans. -- AP

 

 

 

Indonesians demand return of orangutans used in boxing

 

 

A young Indonesian boy watches as men dressed as Thai

boxing orangutans perform during a demonstration

against Indonesian orangutan smuggling and

mistreatment, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2004, in front of the

Thailand Embassy, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The activists

accused the Thai government of smuggling 115

orangutans from Indonesia and using them for

entertainment shows at Safari World in Bangkok. They

urged the Thai government to return orangutans

allegedly being used for entertainment shows, such as

boxing, to their natural habitat in the Indonesian

jungles. AP

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian animal welfare activists on

Thursday staged a demonstration outside Thailand's

embassy to demand the return of native endangered

orangutans used in controversial kickboxing bouts in

Bangkok.

A handful of protesters wearing ape masks and boxing

gloves were symbolically beaten by a young woman in

traditional Thai dress as others carried banners

condemning a Thai animal park where the fights are

staged.

Bangkok's Safari World is at the centre of an inquiry

over claims it smuggled animals from Borneo or

Indonesia's Sumatra island. The fights have now halted

and the zoo's owner has been charged for illegally

importing the orangutans.

Concerns have mounted over the fate of many of the

animals after raids on Safari World uncovered only 69

of 110 suspected to have been present. The missing

apes were later said to have been cremated after they

succumbed to pneumonia.

Use of orang-utans for kick-boxing angers Indonesians

August 20, 2004

 

Jakarta - A group of Indonesian activists demonstrated

outside the Thai embassy here, demanding a speedy

repatriation of endangered orang-utans used in

controversial kick-boxing bouts.

 

With some of them wearing Thai boxing outfits, ape

masks and boxing gloves, the protesters, from the

local Pro-Fauna organisation, carried posters and

banners condemning a Thai park where the fights were

staged.

 

Beside demanding that the Thai government halt the use

of orang-utans for any type of entertainment in

Thailand, the protesters yesterday urged the

government in Bangkok to punish officials involved in

conspiring to conceal the smuggled animals

 

Thai government urged to halt the use of the animals

for entertainment

..

 

" Dozens of orang-utans from Indonesia were smuggled

into Thailand and one of the places for harbouring

them is Safari World in Bangkok, " the group said.

 

They claimed that at least 115 orang-utans, " many of

them still young, have been trained very hard and

cruelly for the kick-boxing shows " .

 

 

 

 

Safari World is at the centre of an inquiry over

claims that it smuggled animals from Indonesia's

Kalimantan and Sumatra islands.

 

The fights have been halted and the zoo's owner has

been charged with illegally importing the orang-utans.

 

Concerns have mounted over the fate of many of the

animals after raids on Safari World uncovered only 69

of

110 suspected to have been smuggled.

 

The missing animals were later said to have been

cremated after they succumbed to pneumonia.

 

The World Wide Fund for Nature has said that fewer

than 30 000 orang-utans remain in the world and warned

that the species could become extinct in as little as

20 years

if the current decline continues.

 

A similar call for a speedy repatriation came from the

Indonesian minister of forestry, who said more than

100 illegally obtained orang-utans were held in

Thailand.

 

Activists argued that in the best interests of the

orang-utans, they should be relocated to Indonesian

wildlife rescue centres that are adequately equipped

to care for the animals and have caretakers with the

necessary expertise. - Sapa-DPA

 

Thai govt promises to return orangutans after DNA test

 

Friday, August 20, 2004

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will have to wait for the return of 69

orangutans, it suspects have been smuggled into

Thailand, as the Thai government requires them to

undergo DNA tests to determine their origin, an

activist says.

ProFauna Indonesia international affairs coordinator

Hardi Baktiantoro said on Thursday that the Thai

government had promised to return the 69 orangutans

once it was proven that they originated from

Indonesia.

" Based on our observations, we know that the 69

orangutans are from Kalimantan. But the Thai

government wants more solid evidence, thus they

decided to perform DNA tests to find out their

origins, " said Hardi.

He said that the Thai government promised to return

the orangutans immediately if the DNA test results

showed that they were from Indonesia.

He said that the Thai government was willing to

compromise as it had ratified the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (CITES) -- an international agreement

which aims to ensure the trade of wild flora and fauna

does not threaten the species.

" Thailand will be the host of the next CITES

convention, and it certainly wants to retain its

positive image, " Hardi told The Jakarta Post.

Earlier on the same day, ProFauna Indonesia held a

demonstration in front of the Thai Embassy in Jakarta.

 

In the demonstration, ProFauna Indonesia demanded that

the Thai government take actions against the Safari

World management as it failed to prove the orangutans'

legal status.

The organization demanded that the Thai government

punish officials involved in the conspiracy to capture

the orangutans.

It further called on the Thai government to stop kick

boxing shows performed by orangutans as it would harm

them and lead to premature death.

According to ProFauna Indonesia, there are at least

115 orangutans smuggled into Thailand and held captive

at Safari World in Bangkok.

Hardi said that Thailand was not the only country that

smuggled orangutans from Indonesia.

" Cambodia is also a country in which smuggled

orangutans are rampant. Based on a survey during our

visit there, there are approximately 19 orangutans

that we suspect are from Indonesia, but we still need

to investigate further to determine whether they are

really from our country, " said Hardi.

 

 

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