Bangkok, Thailand
CNN
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Thai police arrested a man on suspicion of wildlife trafficking after being found along with two baby orangutans in a basket at a gas station in the Thai capital.
The 47-year-old suspect was arrested Wednesday as he was about to give birth to two primates. Thai police told customers in a statement Thursday.
Officers discovered an orangutan – one was about a year old and the other was in a plastic basket a month ago, police I said.
Images released by authorities Showed one of the orangutans in plastic Wear baskets, diapers, provide nutrition and hug soft toys bottle.
The man was arrested on charges of “illegal” It’s protected Wildlife under Thai law,” police said.
Investigators are working to determine the origins of the baby Kasidach Shalenlap, a police officer at the Central Investigation Bureau. He told CNN on Friday.
The man had admitted he was delivering animals, but “but he didn’t say where he got the baby from,” Kasidach said.
Police said they were working to discover illegal wildlife trade networks and to find out whether orangutans were being kept in Thailand or overseas, he added.
The operation was carried out in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Dutch Wildlife Judiciary Committee, and the United Nations office on drugs and crime, a police statement said.
Orangutans named Christopher and Stephen, Currently, he is caring for wildlife personnel from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, authorities told CNN.
The department said Stephen, a month of one month, is in the incubator due to poor health, and one-year-old Christopher has been moved to a sanctuary run by the agency.
Authorities said the orangutans are believed to have been sold for around 300,000 baht ($9,050).
Orangutans are native to Sumatra and Borneo, two Southeast Asian islands home to the world’s most diverse rainforests. And it is under threat as a result of deforestation, habitat destruction and poaching.
They are listed as “critically at risk” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species species (Essentially at risk of extinction.
According to the Worldwide Nature Fund (WWF), mild apes once discovered in numbers in Southeast Asia have experienced a sharp decline in population.
Thailand has long been a hub for illegal wildlife trade.
According to WWF, the border areas with Myanmar, Laos and China, known as the Golden Triangle, are hotspots for cross-border trafficking, illegal wildlife trade and consumption.
