TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian government has managed to repatriate one of baby orangutans that were smuggled to Kuwait in late September. The success is a result of collaboration between the Directorate General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesian Embassy in Kuwait, and the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation.
“One of the baby orangutan, aged 2, has been repatriated,” said public relation staff of BOSF, Nico Hermanu.
The orangutans, Nico said, must undergo DNA test to determine what sub species are they come from, and therefore to identify their original habitation. Once the test result is available,the orangutans would be transferred to one of three rehabilitation centers namely Samboja in East Kalimantan, Nyaru Menteng in Central Kalimantan and the Orangutan Conservation Service Program) in Sumatra.
BOSF, through Nico, has expressed its readiness to take care of the orangutans before it is released to their original habitation.
A physical examination performed on Moza, the 2-year old orangutan, showed that it is in healthy condition after 10-hour flight from Kuwait. Moza is now accommodated at a quarantine facility at Taman Safari Indonesia in Bogor.
Such baby orangutan smuggling to other countries is not the first time happened. Previously, the government has thwarted smuggling attempt at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
SG WIBISONO