After being smuggled through Southeast Asia, seized by Thai border officials, and then cared for at a Thailand wildlife centre for 3 years, a pair of endangered Sumatran orangutans are being sent back to Indonesia.
Back in June 2017, border officials seized the orangutans, Ung Ing and Nathalie, from smugglers at a customs checkpoint in the southern province Songkhla, near Malaysia. After being seized, the orangutans, now 4 years old, were sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Ratchaburi.
Yesterday, the orangutans were transported from the Khao Prathapchang wildlife sanctuary in Ratchaburi to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The primates were cleared for Covid-19 before the flight and fed bananas and green apples. The orangutans will stay at a rehabilitation centre in Indonesia’s Jambi province on Sumatra Island.
Deputy director-general of the Department of National…
