Fourteen orangutans that had been taken illegally from Indonesia and believed worked in tourist attractions in Thailand on Thursday were sent back home.
Indonesia sent a C-130 aircraft of the Air Force to move the apes, each in a metal cage in a five-hour flight from Bangkok to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
Most orangutans were rescued six years ago on the resort island of Phuket and were sent to a sanctuary and breeding center on the outskirts of Bangkok, where two of the animals were born.
"We believe that smuggling led to Thailand and put them in private zoos or tourist attractions in Phuket," said Tuenjai Noochdumrong, director of the Office of Conservation of Wild Fauna in Thailand.
Many private zoos in Thailand have animal shows, where orangutans practice kick boxing and other events.
Thailand tries to get rid of its image as the core of the black market wildlife and launched operations against criminals.
In the past 10 years, Thailand has returned 52 orangutans to Indonesia as part of a program to combat the illegal trafficking of animals and send copies back to their countries of origin, Tuenjai said.
Indonesia living in 90 percent of the remaining wild orangutans, but half of its lush rainforest has been deforested in the last half century in the rush to cover global demand for wood, pulp, paper and more recently, Palm oil.
As a result, most of the remaining 60,000 live in scattered forests and degradation, which puts them in a common and often deadly human contact. AP