Three orangutan traders arrested in Aceh Tamiang

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) - Aceh Tamiang district police in Aceh province arrested three orangutan traders during a raid in Bundar village, Karang Baru sub-district, on Thursday (July 18) evening.

During the raid, police personnel found a Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) that had been hidden inside a backpack by the suspects, chief of the Aceh Tamiang Police, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Muliadi, said here on Friday (July 19).

The suspects were identified as MS (39), MI (24), and RB (33), he added.

They were nabbed after the police received a tip from residents who suspected that someone who illegally owned an orangutan in their neighborhood wanted to sell it to traders, he informed.

Based on the tip, police officers conducted a raid, he said. They stopped a man carrying a backpack and found the primate inside the backpack, Muliadi said.

He noted that the suspects were placed under custody for further investigation as they had allegedly violated Articles 40 (2) and 21 (2) of Law No.5/1990 on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Conservation.

Orangutan is an endemic primate species found in the islands of Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sumatra.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Sumatran orangutan holds protected status in Indonesia and is classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Data from the ministry indicates that in 2016, the orangutan population was estimated at 71,820 across the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, including Sabah and Sarawak, with their habitat spanning 17.46 million hectares.

Endemic to the Sumatra island, the Sumatra orangutan is one of three species found in Indonesia, the others being the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) and the Kalimantan orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus).

In 2019, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry launched the Indonesian Orangutan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (SRAK) to support orangutan conservation efforts and maintain populations in the wild.

Efforts to protect these endemic primates have continued.

On January 31, 2021, for instance, the Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) saved three orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), a mother-infant pair and a male adult, aged 25, who were found abandoned at a local rubber plantation and a village, respectively.

The 20-year-old female adult and her 10-month-old baby were found hunting for food in a plantation area located on Sampit's Sudirman Road KM 11. Meanwhile, the male adult was found abandoned in Lampuyang village, Teluk Sampit sub-district, Kotawaringin Timur district.

The tree-living mammals were rescued by BKSDA workers in collaboration with the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI).