September 24, 2018
Orangutans and baby crocodiles
were among 400 animals seized by customs officials from a boat off Malaysia
A pair of young orangutans, baby
crocodiles and rare birds were among over 400 animals rescued from a boat off
Malaysia as they were being smuggled from neighbouring Indonesia, officials
said Monday.
Three suspected Indonesian
traffickers were arrested after customs officials thwarted the bid to transport
the animals to Thailand in an operation Friday off the Malaysian holiday island
Langkawi.
The unusual cargo included two
"frightened-looking" orangutans and dozens of baby saltwater
crocodiles, Malaysian wildlife official
Mohamad Zaki Rahim told AFP.
There were also about 350 sugar
gliders—a type of small marsupial—cockatoos, parrots and parakeets found in
boxes on board, he said, adding the smugglers intended to sell all the animals
as pets.
The smugglers were seeking to
transport the animals under cover of darkness in a cargo vessel from the vast,
jungle-clad Indonesian island of Sumatra, through the Malacca Strait to
Thailand, customs chief T. Subromaniam told the Star newspaper.
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