Katarina, ‘world’s loneliest orangutan’, transferred to Taiping Zoo
Katarina, dubbed the world's loneliest orangutan by British media, has finally been transferred to another zoo where she will be able to socialise with other primates, after spending years being allegedly mistreated at the Kuala Lipis Zoo in Pahang.
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) said the 12-year-old orangutan was transferred to the Zoo Taiping and Night Safari in Perak last Thursday, and was being quarantined before she is introduced to the orangutans at her new zoo.
"Katarina was relocated so that she can be with the orangutans in the Zoo Taiping and Night Safari," Perhilitan said in a statement.
"The relocation process went well. The veterinary doctor's examination revealed that Katarina is healthy and active. Her body's physical condition is also satisfactory. Katarina is now quarantined before she is introduced to the orangutans there."
UK's Daily Mail last year said Katarina was pining away in a "miserable zoo with no companion, no toys, no leafy trees and only a concrete block to sleep on".
Wildlife activist Upreshpal Singh, the director of the Friends of the Orangutan group, who had campaigned for the primate's transfer, told the daily that visitors would throw junk food at Katarina and had been caught trying to force her to smoke a cigarette.
Last week, Friends of the Orangutan handed over a memorandum to several ministries, including the Prime Minister's Office, stressing the urgency to move Katarina.
Upreshal said that while RM60 million was spent on the two pandas on loan from China, Katarina had languished in the Kuala Lipiz zoo.
Perhilitian said today that it had carried out audits on the Kuala Lipis Zoo over its orangutan enclosure and welfare since 2013, and had proposed improvements in line with the Wildlife Conservation (Operation of Zoo) Regulations 2014.
It assured that Katarina's new home, the Zoo Taiping and Night Safari, was also audited last year and had complied with the Wildlife Conservation (Operation of Zoo) Regulations 2014.
It said the Malaysian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (Mazpa), Perhilitan and the two zoos had agreed on May 12, 2014, to place Katarina in the Zoo Taiping and Night Safari, and that Perhilitan had discussed he matter with the Pahang state government.
"Katarina was transferred to the Zoo Taiping and Night Safari after the special permit was approved," said Perhilitan, adding that it had also confirmed the orangutans in the zoo were of the same species as Katarina.
"In our efforts to protect Katarina's welfare, the government has worked hard to find a good home for her that is in line with the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716). Various negotiations were carried out with all stakeholders until she was finally relocated." – February 14, 2015.
