Smuggled orangutans flown back home to Indonesia; time to start new life

A Sumatran orangutan sits in a cage before being repatriated from Thailand to Indonesia after having been smuggled into the kingdom, at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok in December 17, 2020. - AFP

MEDAN, Indonesia, Dec 19 (AFP): Nine trafficked orangutans were flown back home to western Indonesia on Friday night (Dec 18) after the primates were rescued from the illicit wildlife trade in Malaysia.

Poachers in South-East Asia frequently capture the critically endangered Sumatran orangutans to sell as pets, and fewer than 15,000 of the apes are estimated to remain in the wild.