Orangutan found dead in Indonesia was shot 17 times
Posted on 19 January 2018 - 08:26pm
Last updated on 19 January 2018 - 08:37pm
Last updated on 19 January 2018 - 08:37pm
JAKARTA: The animal was found floating in a river in South Barito district on Monday with its head missing, according to the local government-run Nature Conservancy Agency.
A necropsy on Thursday found 17 air rifle pellets lodged in the male orangutan's body, agency chief Adib Gunawan said Friday.
"We, together with the police are taking action and hopefully the perpetrators will be found soon," he said.
Classified as "critically endangered" species, orangutans number around 111,000 in the wild on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, according to the World Wildlife Fund conservation group.
Conservationists have said the species' survival is threatened by poaching and the destruction of their habitat through the logging industry. — dpa