Police arrest 5 who killed orangutan in Borneo with air gun

JAKARTA, Indonesia –  Indonesian police say they have arrested four men and a boy who shot a critically endangered orangutan at least 130 times with an air gun.

Villagers spotted the wounded orangutan in a lake in the East Kutai district of East Kalimantan province on Borneo two weeks ago. It died days later.

Local police chief detective Yuliansyah said police arrested four members of a family, including a 13-year-old boy, and a neighbor last week.

He said the suspects admitted they shot, stabbed and clubbed the great ape, which they considered a pest because it ruined the family’s pineapple plantation.

Yuliansyah, who goes by a single name, said the boy will continue to attend school while the case is underway.

The adults face up to five years in prison.