Police in Thailand arrested a man suspected of wildlife trafficking after they found him with two baby orangutans at a gas station. Thai police said in a statement that the 47-year-old suspect was apprehended on Wednesday, May 14 as he was about to deliver the orangutans to a customer, according to CNN.
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The illegal wildlife trade industry makes an estimated $10 billion to $20 billion a year, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs’ Enforcement
One of the orangutans was a 1-year-old, and the other was 1 month old. Both were in plastic baskets, police said, per CNN.
The man now faces charges of illegal possession of protected wildlife, which could land him four years in prison if convicted.
Orangutans are usually sold for 300,000 baht, or $9,000, each, police said.
Organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund deem orangutans as “endangered,” making it a crime under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species’ guidelines to trade them across borders.
Found in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo, orangutans’ habitats are shrinking because of the growth of agricultural land, the Associated Press reported. This makes them vulnerable to poaching.
Over the last two decades, Thailand returned dozens of orangutans to Indonesia, the AP wrote.
Authorities told CNN the orangutans are now being taken care of by officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. The 1-month-old is in an incubator because of what the department said is “weak health,” and the 1-year-old was taken to a sanctuary.
