A drugged, smuggled orangutan was seized at Bali airport on 22 March 2019. The two-year-old orangutan was drugged by a Russian national accused of trying to smuggle the protected animal from Bali to Russia. Tapanuli orangutans, found in isolated forests in Sumatra, have been described by conservationists as the most endangered great ape species in the world. Photo: Denpasar Quarantine office
A drugged, smuggled orangutan was seized at Bali airport on 22 March 2019. The two-year-old orangutan was drugged by a Russian national accused of trying to smuggle the protected animal from Bali to Russia. Tapanuli orangutans, found in isolated forests in Sumatra, have been described by conservationists as the most endangered great ape species in the world. Photo: Denpasar Quarantine office

23 March 2019 (BBC News) – A Russian man has been arrested in Bali on suspicion of trying to smuggle a young orangutan out of Indonesia.

The two-year-old male was found drugged inside a rattan basket when Andrei Zhestkov was stopped at security at Denpasar airport on Friday night.

Mr Zhestkov is said to have told officials he was given the primate by a friend who bought it for $3,000 .

Orangutans are a protected species and Mr Zhestkov could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

“The Russian also had injections and drugs in his bag. He said he planned to re-administer the drugs when they transited” in South Korea, Dewa Delanata, from the airport’s quarantine office, told the Jakarta Post.

Two live geckos and five lizards were also found in the passenger’s luggage. [more]

Smuggled orangutan seized at Bali airport