Wildlife officer search teams found an orangutan at large in jungle in Pa Khlok, to te east of central Phuket, at about 7pm tonight (Feb 20).
“Our search teams found the orangutan after spreading out to search the area and after receiving a tip-off from local people about people they saw acting suspiciously in the area,” Piyawat Sukon, Chief of the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Office in Thalang, told The Phuket News.
“We have yet to confirm it, but we are pretty sure it is Milo,” he said.
The orangutan found is fairly healthy, Mr Piyawat reported.
“We will transport the orangutan to the Wildlife Conservation office at Khao Phra Thaeo and make sure sure is healthy before we send her to another wildlife reserve in Phang Nga,” he said.
“We will also inform the office responsible for enforcing CITES* provisions in Thailand to make sure they are fully aware of the incident.”