Thailand to return orang-utans to Indonesia

BANGKOK, November 11 (TNA) - Officials of the Khao Phrathap Chang Open Zoo and Wildlife Breeding Research Station in Chom Bung area of Ratchaburi Province near Bangkok are making preparation for the transport of 14 orang-utans back to their motherland, Indonesia, on November 12. Banpote Maleehuan, Chief of the Khao Phrathap Chang Open Zoo and Wildlife Breeding Research Station, led his staff to clean 12 cages again on Wednesday to prevent infection during the transport of the apes from Bangkok to Indonesia. Banpote said all the 14 orang-utans would be transported from Ratchaburi at night and should reach the Royal Thai Air Force Airport in Bangkok's Don Muang area at 6am on November 12, when their plane to Indonesia would take off. Earlier, authorities collected 11 smuggled orang-utans that were abandoned near a highway in Phuket Province and another in Chumphon Province in the Thai South, while two other orang-utans are newborns. The apes consist of nine males and five females and blood tests showed they did not carry any disease that concerns Indonesian authorities. (TNA)