The key facts

  • Nine orangutans rescued from fires in Ketapang were released on October 29 into the 23,000-hectare protected area of Batu Njambo
  • The animals had burns on their hands and feet and were exhausted; rehabilitation lasted four to eight weeks
  • At least 51 orangutans have been rescued in West Kalimantan since the beginning of August; according to Nusantara Atlas, fires have destroyed more than 1.9 million hectares in nine months

Return to the forest

On Thursday, October 29, deep inside the protected Batu Njambo forest in the Indonesian part of Borneo, specialists opened the transport cages, and nine orangutans rescued from forest fires climbed up trees and disappeared into the canopy. This was reported by AFP and euronews. The group included four mother-and-infant pairs; as AFP noted, three females were found to be pregnant during the final veterinary examination, including Mama Ocha, rescued together with her infant Ocha.

Rescue and rehabilitation

The animals were rescued in August and September in Ketapang district, West Kalimantan. According to Carmele Llano Sanchez, head of the rehabilitation foundation YIARI, some had burns on their hands and feet, while others were exhausted and suffering from malnutrition. YIARI veterinarian Ishma Maula told AFP that during quarantine the animals experienced severe stress and displayed abnormal behavior, so the team decided to release them as soon as possible after a safe site was found. Recovery at the Ketapang rehabilitation center took four to eight weeks. euronews specifiesthat the orangutans were rescued from an oil palm plantation where fire had swept through their habitat.

A difficult journey and the choice of location

The journey to the release site was long: the team, with the cages suspended on poles, traveled by car, then by kayaks and boats, and then on foot for hours along steep, slippery slopes through dense forest. Batu Njambo, a protected area of 23,000 hectares in the same province, was chosen, according to Sanchez, because its forests are largely untouched and provide sufficient food and shelter. After the cages were opened, the specialists applauded as they watched the animals leave.

Context: fires and a shrinking population

The release took place amid growing concern for the endangered Bornean orangutans. According to Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry, from the beginning of August to mid-October at least 51 orangutans were rescued from burning forests in West Kalimantan. Last month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported that fires are burning in territories inhabited by more than half of the Bornean orangutan population. The monitoring group Nusantara Atlas estimates the area burned in the first nine months of the year at more than 1.9 million hectares. According to WWF estimates, about 104,000 orangutans remain in the wild on Borneo and Sumatra — less than half the number of a century ago. Experts, as AFP notes, attribute a significant share of the destruction to slash-and-burn land clearing, often linked to the expansion of logging, palm oil production, and mining.