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Thai Police Rescue 2 Baby Orangutans, Arrest Trafficking Suspect

A handout photo made available by the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau shows a baby orangutan inside a basket after being rescued from smuggling in Bangkok, Thailand, 14 May 2025 (issued 15 May 2025). EPA/ROYAL THAI POLICE CENTRAL INVESTIGATION BUREAU / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau shows a baby orangutan inside a basket after being rescued from smuggling in Bangkok, Thailand, 14 May 2025 (issued 15 May 2025). EPA/ROYAL THAI POLICE CENTRAL INVESTIGATION BUREAU / HANDOUT
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Thai Police Rescue 2 Baby Orangutans, Arrest Trafficking Suspect

A handout photo made available by the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau shows a baby orangutan inside a basket after being rescued from smuggling in Bangkok, Thailand, 14 May 2025 (issued 15 May 2025). EPA/ROYAL THAI POLICE CENTRAL INVESTIGATION BUREAU / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau shows a baby orangutan inside a basket after being rescued from smuggling in Bangkok, Thailand, 14 May 2025 (issued 15 May 2025). EPA/ROYAL THAI POLICE CENTRAL INVESTIGATION BUREAU / HANDOUT

Two baby orangutans have been rescued from being sold in Thailand's capital Bangkok and a suspected trafficker arrested, police said.

The orangutans were seized Wednesday night and the alleged courier for the seller was arrested at a gas station, police said. The suspect was charged with illegal possession of protected wildlife and faces up to four years in prison if convicted, The Associated Press reported.

Police said orangutans generally sell for 300,000 baht ($9,000) each.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists orangutans as critically endangered, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) prohibits cross-border trade in the animals.

Orangutans are found only in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo, but their habitat is shrinking due to the growth of agricultural land, making them more vulnerable to poaching. Thailand over the past two decades has repatriated dozens of orangutans to Indonesia.

US Immigration and Customs’ Enforcement and Interpol, the international police organization, estimate the annual value of the illicit wildlife trade at $10 billion to $20 billion.

Police handed over the two orangutans to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for care and safekeeping.

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10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
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10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

Ten black rhinos have been moved from South Africa to Mozambique to secure breeding of the critically endangered animals that became locally extinct 50 years ago, conservationists said Thursday.

The five male and five female rhinos were transferred to Mozambique's Zinave National Park in a 48-hour road trip last week, said the Peace Parks Foundation, which took part in the translocation.

"It was necessary to introduce these 10 to make the population viable," communication coordinator Lesa van Rooyen told AFP.

The new arrivals will "secure the first founder population of black rhinos since becoming locally extinct five decades ago,” South Africa's environment ministry, which was also involved, said in a statement.

Twelve black rhinos had previously been sent from South Africa to Zinave in central Mozambique but the population was still not viable for breeding, Van Rooyen said.

Twenty-five white rhinos, which are classified as less threatened, were also translocated in various operations.

The global black rhino population dropped by 96 percent between 1970 and 1993, reaching a low of only 2,300 surviving in the wild, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

Decades of conservation efforts allowed the species to slowly recover and the population is estimated at 6,421 today.

Once abundant across sub-Saharan Africa, rhino numbers fell dramatically due to hunting by European colonizers and large-scale poaching, with their horns highly sought after on black markets particularly in Asia.

Mozambique's population of the large animals was depleted during the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1992 and pushed many people to desperate measures to "survive in very difficult circumstances", van Rooyen said.

Years of rewilding efforts have established Zinave as Mozambique’s only national park home to the "Big Five" game animals -- elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo.