Article: Tatu to stay a little bit longer

Saturday September 5, 2009

By YENG AI CHUN

PETALING JAYA: Tatu, the baby orang utan that was rescued from a deer breeder in Kuala Kubu Baru, is staying in Malaysia a little longer until the case is settled.

Tatu is among three baby orang utans, an endangered species, that were confiscated in Selangor and Taiping in June.

The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) released the results of the DNA tests on the fur samples of the three orang utan last week.

Perhilitan legal and enforcement director Saharudin Anan said Tatu was from the Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii species that originates in central Kalimantan.

Endangered species: Tatu and two other baby orang utans were confiscated in Selangor and Taiping in June.

"We will send Tatu back once the case is over. For now, he is a case exhibit," he said, adding that Tatu and the other two baby orang utan were being currently cared for by the department.

The deer breeder, Mohamed Akbar Chi- raghdin, 49, has been charged with five counts of illegally possessing a baby orang utan and seven exotic cockatoos.

He was charged under the Section 65 of the Wildlife Protection Act, which carries a fine of not more than RM6,000 or six years' jail or both. He was released on bail and the case is pending in the Kuala Kubu Baru magistrate's court.

The other two orang baby utan are from the Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus species, most of which are found in Sarawak and in small colonies in Indonesia.

"It would be tricky to find out exactly where they are from. We will need to conduct further investigation on the matter. For example, if it is from Sarawak, we will return them to the state but we will also need to consider if they are fit to be returned to the wild," he said.

It was earlier reported that the two baby orang utan were confiscated from Taiping Zoo and that its director, Dr Kevin Lazarus, had claimed that the protected animals were dropped off by an anonymous donor and that the zoo took them in as a "social obligation".

This article was taken  from: The Star Online: Nation, 5 September 2009