The two-year battle to send 54 illegally-smuggled orangutans home is finally drawing to a close as Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian officials meet on Friday and Saturday in Bangkok to finalise the fate of the apes.
The orangutans have been detained at Khao Pratap Chang Wildlife Reserve since they were discovered at the Safari World Zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok in 2004, where they were made to fight in kick-boxing contests daily.
The zoo's owner claimed they were bred in captivity, but DNA tests showed that they came from outside Thailand. The 54 apes in government custody are from Indonesia’s Kalimantan province, said Steven Galster from WildAid-Thailand. With an estimated 27,000 wild orangutans left, they are considered endangered and their trade is prohibited internationally.
Thai authorities vowed to return the apes as soon as their exact origin is determined.
