SAMUT PRAKAN, Dec 22 (REUTERS) – Thailand repatriated three rescued Sumatran orangutans to Indonesia on Thursday (December 21) in a bittersweet farewell attended by officials of both countries.
The orangutans include a pair of female and male apes named Shizuka and Nobita, both seven years old, rescued from illegal trade near the Thai-Malaysia border in 2016 and a five-year-old male named Brian, who was found abandoned at a Thai petrol station in 2019.
“I know the feelings of the animal keepers here because they already have a special bond,” Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand Rachmat Budiman said. “So it’s a mixed feeling for me – happy and also sad for the animal keepers.”
The orangutans will undergo a rehabilitation programme at the National Resources Conservation Center in Jambi Province, Sumatra, where they are expected to take around three years to adapt to the new surroundings before being released into the wild, officials said.
Kanokon Senatham, the orangutans’ Thai keeper of six years, said in an emotional speech that she was happy that the animals will be returned to their native habitats but also expressed concern about their ability to adapt mentally and physically, having only been exposed to the Thai language since they were young.
“Shizuka craves attention and easy to raise, Nobita is like a naughty boy but he does listen to me, while Brian keeps to himself and doesn’t cling to anyone, but let me tell you, he really enjoys eating,” said Kanokon.
The return of the animals to Indonesia on Thursday is the sixth repatriation from Thailand since 2006 as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) commitment to conserve endangered species and combat illegal wildlife trafficking and trade, according a press release by the Thai wildlife department.
A total of 74 confiscated orangutans, including the three returned on Thursday, have been sent back to Indonesia from Thailand during these years.
According to WWF, both the Bornean and Sumatran orangutan species are facing a sharp decline in population.
Out of about 230,000 orangutans figure cited in the past, the Bornean species is estimated at 104,700 based on geographic range while the Sumatran is estimated at about 7,500 in the wild and is listed as critically endangered. (REUTERS)
