Activists call for protection for orangutans

JAKARTA: Members of the Center for Orangutan Protection protested in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, demanding that the President support the legal protection of orangutans following widespread news of their torture and killings in East Kalimantan.

“Orangutans have never been given serious attention. The proof is in front of our eyes. In Kalimantan, a lot of orangutans have been found tortured, injured and killed,” said Daniek Hendarto of the Center, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He added that on Nov.3, an adult orangutan was found battered in a farming district in East Kalimantan, belonging to a Malaysian firm.

“We suspect the orangutan was tortured and suffered from broken bones,” he said.

The beaten orangutan was sufficient evidence for the Natural Resources Conservancy Agency (BKSDA) to sue the plantation management and imprison them.

“The evidence is there and it is a violation of the 1990 Law on Natural Resources Conservation and the Ecosystem,” he said.