73 Years Of RI-Thailand Relations, 3 Orangutan Barbuk Cases Of Illegal Animals In Bangkok Repatriated To Jambi

Jambi BKSDA officers took orangutans from the cargo of Sultan Thaha Saifuddin airport to a temporary quarantine place, Friday, December 22. (ANTARA/Nanang Mairiadi)

SUMATERA - At least three Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) who were secured by Thai officials in the case of illegal animal trafficking have arrived in Jambi. The repatriation process or repatriation coincided with the 73rd anniversary of Indonesia-Thailand bilateral relations.

"The three orangutans consist of 7-year-old Nobita with male gender and 7-year-old Shisuka with female gender), and 4-year-old Briant who is male," said Head of the Jambi BKSDA Donal Hutasoit in Jambi, Friday, December 22, as reported by Antara.

Donal explained that the three orangutans were the result of the enforcement of a criminal smuggling carried out by the Thai Natural and Environmental Resources and Environmental Crimes Division in Bangkok in 2016.

In this repatriation process, the three orangutans were treated at the Kho Pratubchang Wildlife Rescue Center (KPRC) in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand.

On the evening of Thursday, December 21, the three orangutans arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, after being flown from Bangkok using a GA 867 aircraft.

After arriving in Indonesia, orangutans are kept at the Garuda Indonesia transit facility under the care of veterinarians.

Furthermore, on Friday, December 22 at around 09.20 WIB, the three orangutans were dispatched to Jambi using a GA 126 aircraft.

Arriving in Jambi, the three were temporarily treated at the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) quarantine area through the supervision of the Jambi KSDA Center.

The three orangutans will undergo rehabilitation at the Sumatran orangutan Rehabilitation Center (PROS) Sungai Pengian Jambi before being released into their natural habitat.

"This repatriation of orangutans is the fifth repatriation from Thailand with a total of 71 orangutan individuals who have been repatriated since 2006," said Donal.

The three orangutans have the status of evidence (barbuk) in Thailand. Meanwhile, specifically in Jambi, repatriation from Thailand is the second after 2020 two individual orangutans named Ung Aing and Natalee, which have now been released into the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (TNBT) Jambi.

At TNBT, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry together with the Frankfurt Zoolological Society (FZS) from 2003 to 2023 have released 204 orangutans with details of 98 females and 106 males and, it was observed that 21 individuals had been born in TNBT.