Three rescued orangutans have finally been repatriated to Indonesia after being smuggled to Thailand.

The primates named Nobita and Shizuka, both 7, and Bryan, 4, were transported in orange crates to the Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport to be flown back to Jakarta on December 21.

Vets and soldiers accompanied the trio on the truck to the airport, where the orangutans' emotional caretakers bid them a bittersweet farewell.

One of their handlers Kanokorn Senanon said: 'I am happy that they get to go home, but also said that I will be parted from them. I've been taking care of them for around six years now. I treated them like they were my own children.'

Nobita and Shizuka, named after characters from the Japanese cartoon Doraemon, were rescued in a sting operation in Bangkok in 2016, while Bryan was seized from illegal smugglers in 2019. They had been living at the Khao Prathap Chang Wildlife Center in Ratchaburi province before the repatriation today.

Rachmat Budiman, Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand, said: 'Here in Thailand, they were taking care of the orangutans very well, and of course Indonesia would do the same. There will be three steps before we release them into the wild.'

The orangutans will first be monitored upon arrival, then given time to adjust to their new environment at a wildlife sanctuary in Sumatra. They will then be prepared to be freed into their natural habitat.

He said: 'We need some more time. It depends on the progress and the adaptation of the orangutans. In our experience, there will be around three years before they can be released into the wild.'

He added that the occassion was a bittersweet one, especially for the orangutans' caretakers who have grown attached to their simian charges.

Nobita, Shizuka, and Bryan were the last three of 74 orangutans rescued from the illicit wildlife trade and sent back to Indonesia since 2006.

Sumatran Orangutans are critically endangered under the IUCN Red List. They live in the woodlands of Borneo and Sumatra, but poaching and habitat loss due to human encroachment have dwindled their numbers.