The Kuala Lumpur Bird Park had cancelled its shows featuring orangutans soon after a member of the public complained that the organisers were allegedly using Sumatran orangutans, an endangered species, for entertainment and commercial purposes.

A source said that no other shows featuring orangutans were held following the last one on April 9 this year. Previously, the show was held twice daily every weekend and three times during public holidays for about three years.

According to the source who had seen the April 9 show, it was cancelled and taken off the programme after its organisers got wind of the complaints.

Sumatran orangutans (pongo pygmaeus abelii) are recognised as a 'critically endangered' species under the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Commercial trade in these animals is prohibited.

At the opening of the last show, according to the source, the master of ceremonies had allegedly even introduced the orangutans as an "endangered species" and are "found only in Sumatra."

When contacted, Bird Park officials confirmed that it had not featured any orangutans in its shows since mid-April.

One spokesperson, when pressed for the reasons, would only say that "we are not in possession of any orangutans anymore.

"If you want to find out about orangutans, you have to ask the National Zoo," she said.

'Definitely Sumatran'

Wildlife Department's law and enforcement director Misliah Mohd Basir has cast doubts that the orangutans were of the endangered Sumatran variety, and insisted that only DNA samples from the orangutans can confirm their identity.

However, Dr Ian Singleton, scientific director of the Switzerland-based Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, has confirmed that the orangutans captured on photographs while performing at the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park are "definitely Sumatran."

"For people who are used to distinguishing between the two, it is normally very easy. To anyone who is used to working with orangutans, the physical differences are more than enough for us to know that at least these two are definitely Sumatrans," said Singleton.

"However, if we want to convince the authorities in Malaysia and Indonesia of this then the DNA profiling is a sensible action," he added.

The orangutans are currently held in the Malacca-based A'Famosa Resort. A'Famosa has not returned repeated calls for comments on the matter.