Four Indonesian men have been arrested over the killing of an orangutan shot some 130 times with an air rifle, police said on Monday, in the latest fatal attack on a critically endangered species.
The suspects, farmers from the island of Borneo, admitted killing the animal, saying it ruined their crops at a pineapple and palm oil plantation, according to authorities.
“They meant to shoo [it] away but their actions instead killed the orangutan,” said Teddy Ristiawan, district police chief in East Kutai, Kalimantan.
The suspects, who were arrested last week, will be charged with killing a protected animal and face five years’ jail and a maximum fine of about US$7,400.
Ristiawan said a fifth suspect, a 13-year-old boy, was arrested but released because he was a minor.
Villagers in Borneo’s East Kutai district discovered the male orangutan’s corpse riddled with pellets two weeks ago. Its mutilated body also appeared to have machete wounds.