Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Bali’s drugged, smuggled orangutan headed back to the wild

-

A baby orangutan that was drugged by a Russian trafficker in a failed bid to smuggle it out of Bali will be released back into the wild.

The case made headlines in March when suspicious authorities on the Indonesian holiday island stopped Andrei Zhestkov, who was flying back to Russia, and opened his luggage to find a two-year-old orangutan sleeping inside a rattan basket.

Zhestkov, sentenced to a year in prison in July, had packed baby formula and blankets for the orangutan. He was also carrying two live geckos and five lizards inside the suitcase.

An officer holds Bon Bon  the baby orangutan  after it was discovered in the luggage of a Russian to...
An officer holds Bon Bon, the baby orangutan, after it was discovered in the luggage of a Russian tourist in Bali in March 2019
SONNY TUMBELAKA, AFP

On Monday, conservation authorities in Bali rolled out a big fruit plate for fuzzy-haired Bon Bon as he prepares to move to a conservation centre in Sumatra -- one of just two places where the critically endangered species is found in the wild.

Bon Bon's caretaker, Ketut Diandika, confessed to being a little bit sad at the ape's departure.

"I actually want Bon Bon to stay here so that I can still take care of him," he said.

The Southeast Asian archipelago's rainforests boast some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world and it is a key source and transit point for animal trafficking.

Two lion cubs were rescued by police from illegal wildlife traffickers in Pekanbaru in Indonesia&apo...
Two lion cubs were rescued by police from illegal wildlife traffickers in Pekanbaru in Indonesia's Riau province
Wahyudi, AFP

In a separate case at the weekend, officials in Sumatra's Riau province said they arrested two men, allegedly part of an international trafficking ring, who were attempting to smuggle four lion cubs and a baby leopard from Africa, along with dozens of tortoises.

A baby orangutan that was drugged by a Russian trafficker in a failed bid to smuggle it out of Bali will be released back into the wild.

The case made headlines in March when suspicious authorities on the Indonesian holiday island stopped Andrei Zhestkov, who was flying back to Russia, and opened his luggage to find a two-year-old orangutan sleeping inside a rattan basket.

Zhestkov, sentenced to a year in prison in July, had packed baby formula and blankets for the orangutan. He was also carrying two live geckos and five lizards inside the suitcase.

An officer holds Bon Bon  the baby orangutan  after it was discovered in the luggage of a Russian to...

An officer holds Bon Bon, the baby orangutan, after it was discovered in the luggage of a Russian tourist in Bali in March 2019
SONNY TUMBELAKA, AFP

On Monday, conservation authorities in Bali rolled out a big fruit plate for fuzzy-haired Bon Bon as he prepares to move to a conservation centre in Sumatra — one of just two places where the critically endangered species is found in the wild.

Bon Bon’s caretaker, Ketut Diandika, confessed to being a little bit sad at the ape’s departure.

“I actually want Bon Bon to stay here so that I can still take care of him,” he said.

The Southeast Asian archipelago’s rainforests boast some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world and it is a key source and transit point for animal trafficking.

Two lion cubs were rescued by police from illegal wildlife traffickers in Pekanbaru in Indonesia&apo...

Two lion cubs were rescued by police from illegal wildlife traffickers in Pekanbaru in Indonesia's Riau province
Wahyudi, AFP

In a separate case at the weekend, officials in Sumatra’s Riau province said they arrested two men, allegedly part of an international trafficking ring, who were attempting to smuggle four lion cubs and a baby leopard from Africa, along with dozens of tortoises.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

World

Immigration is a symptom of a much deeper worldwide problem.

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.