Police crack case of missing orang-utan

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thirty-six orang-utans, which went missing from a Bangkok zoo infamous for its kick-boxing primates, have been found and had not died of pneumonia as the zoo's owners had claimed, police say.


Forestry Police Colonel Vijit Nantawong told reporters on Friday the orang-utan were found on Friday locked up in four cages at the city's Safari World amusement park.


All 36 were juveniles and four are being treated at the zoo's medical unit. One of the primates is in critical condition and had an intravenous drip in one of its arms.


Vincent Chu, who looks after the animals and the mock kick-boxing show said he had not intended to hide them and had simply isolated them from other orang-utan at the zoo after some of them fell ill.


Under pressure from Indonesian environmentalists, Thai police agreed to confiscate the zoo's 110 highly endangered orang-utan after the smuggling allegations surfaced last month.


But the animals had to stay in Safari World's cages because police did not have another suitable home for them.


The case of the missing primates started after a recent search of the zoo revealed only 69 orang-utan -- begging the question where the other 41 had gone. There was speculation they had been shipped to another location.


"There is no way to move 30 to 40 orang-utan back and forth between this zoo and another place so easily, so the allegation that we moved these apes away and put them back here is groundless," said zoo owner Pin Kiewkacha.


Pin has been charged with importing the animals illegally. If found guilty he faces up to 10 years' jail and hefty fines.


Chu said he could not remember how many apes had died.


"They reported to me approximately four to five have died when I was here," he said.


Wild orang-utans are now only found in jungles of Malaysia and Indonesia. Forestry officials from Jakarta visited Bangkok last week to press for DNA tests to determine where they came from.


If it is proved that the animals came from Indonesia, it would be the largest known case of orang-utan smuggling, an ape expert has said.