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JAKARTA A critically endangered Borneo orangutan shot to death in Indonesia took 130 pellets from an air rifle, in addition to cuts and bruises, an official of a wildlife group said on Thursday.
Indonesia has vast swathes of palm or coffee plantations growing on deforested land, and the year's second such killing is the latest in a series officials often blame on plantation workers and farmers who encounter wildlife on their property.
"It had been blinded,"said Ramadhani, a habitat protection manager with the Center for Orangutan Protection, which made an X-ray examination of the dead animal.
"We found 74 air rifle pellets lodged just in its head,"added Ramadhani."One hundred and thirty pellets are the largest number in the history of conflicts between orangutans and humans that have occurred in Indonesia,"the charity said on its website. (AFP)
