RATCHABURI, 28 August 2015 – Fourteen orangutans found abandoned on roadside in Phuket province are to be sent back to Indonesia next month.
after conducting physical examination of the primates with a team of Indonesian vets, officials from Khao Prathab Chang Wildlife Husbandry Station in Ratchaburi said the 14 primates would be returned to Indonesia next month.
The husbandry station’s residential veterinarian Sirinthip Khemthong told the media that the test samples of the 14 orangutans are being processed by laboratories of Mahidol University’s Veterinary Faculty, National Institute of Health and the Department of Livestock Development. The test results are expected to be disclosed in a couple of weeks.
According to an initial investigation, the primates were smuggled into the country and destined for a private zoo in Phuket. They were later abandoned before being discovered and transferred to the husbandry station in Ratchaburi Province. The 14 apes will be sent back to Indonesia in compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
