A routine police check of a Malaysian citizen’s vehicle travelling in the southern Thai border town of Hat Yai revealed two illegally transported passengers: a pair baby orangutans.
Also in the car with the man were scores of turtles, which had been wrapped tightly in plastic tape so they could not move. The animals had just been smuggled into Thailand from Malaysia and were destined for the local exotic pet trade.
This recent discovery of yet more illegally smuggled orangutans is further proof of rampant trafficking in the critically endangered primates. According to the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), an alliance of NGOs and governments, hundreds of orangutans have been trafficked over the years within Malaysia and Indonesia as well as out of the two countries.
This excerpt from a news article appeared in and is courtesy of Clean Malaysia and can be read in its entirety here.
