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India emerges as major destination for trafficked orangutans and other endangered apes

India emerges as major destination for trafficked orangutans and other endangered apes

India has emerged as a major destination for trafficked orangutans and other endangered apes, with wealthy collectors driving the illegal trade. Sinan Serhadli, a wildlife trafficking expert at the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, stated that the country is now a primary destination for these animals. Wealthy collectors who prize rare animals as “status symbols” are driving the trade in trafficked animals from Southeast Asia, which serves as a regional hub for species originating elsewhere, according to Uttara Mendiratta, a wildlife trafficking researcher in India.

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