Source : Terra Daily, 29 Nov '04
By : Terra Daily
  

A Thai forestry police officer, General Swake Pinsinchai, visited the Animal Rescue Center in Indonesia's central Java city of Yogyakarta to inspect the country's preparedness to receive the apes, said Ferry Ardianto, the center's legal affairs head.

"The Thai officer assured us that they will return the orangutans as long as we cooperate," Ardianto said, adding that no date had been set for the repatriation.

Swake was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that his visit to Indonesia showed his government was serious in its efforts to return the orangutans.

The Thai officer said the illicit trade in orangutans was a high-profile issue because it involved millions of baht and high-ranking officials.

Thailand had earlier promised to repatriate 50 of 115 smuggled orangutans in the first batch but claimed that some of the primates had died of illness, Ardianto said.

"We know it was a lie. Apparently there's some kind of a mafia there," Ardianto said.

The endangered apes had been used in controversial orangutan kickboxing shows at Bangkok's Safari World, which is at the centre of an inquiry over claims it smuggled the animals from Borneo or Indonesia's Sumatra island.

The fights have now halted, DNA tests have begun to establish the animals' origin and the zoo's owner has been charged with illegally importing the orangutans.

About 1,000 orangutans are smuggled out of Indonesia each year, including 300 or more through Thailand, according to Edwin Wiek, director of Wildlife Friends of Thailand.

He said the investigation had been hindered because Thai officials were allegedly grappling with powerful forces inside and outside of the government who were intent on blocking the repatriation.

The conservation agency WWF has claimed fewer than 30,000 orangutans remain in the world and the species could become extinct in as little as 20 years if the decline continues.