Baby orangutans rescued from smuggler's clutches

A 47-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday with two tiny orangutans in plastic baskets in Bangkok.

The smuggler intended to deliver the very young animals to a customer at a petrol station in Bangkok, but what he didn't know was that his so-called customer was actually an undercover agent. The orangutans were offered for sale at 300,000 Thai baht, equivalent to about 8,000 euros or nearly 9,000 US dollars.

The weakened animals were seized and the smuggler was handcuffed.

The youngest ape was barely one month old. The baby was named 'Christopher' and, along with his brother - a larger orangutan about one year old now called 'Stefan' - was brought to a rescue centre in Bangkok. The smallest ape was very weak, is still in an incubator, and is being hand-fed by the centre's staff.

(FVDV - Source: CNN/KameraOne- Illustration: ©Unsplash)