Orangutans Released in West Kalimantan Following Wildfires
Deep inside a forest in Indonesian Borneo, conservationists open a cage, allowing a female orangutan and her baby to clamber up towering trees and disappear into the canopy. These two individuals belonged to a group of nine orangutans rescued from destructive blazes tearing through their woodland habitat located in Ketapang, West Kalimantan province, across August and September. Nursed back to health over several weeks, the animals received a new home in Batu Nyambu, a 23,000-hectare protected area in the same province.
When rescue teams initially located the animals, their condition was severe. Karmele Llano Sanchez, CEO of the wildlife rehabilitation foundation YIARI, told AFP journalists on site that some individuals sustained burns on their hands and feet while others were visibly skinny and malnourished. The journey to Batu Nyambu required conservation workers to trek for hours through steep, slippery terrain while carrying the apes in cages suspended from poles digging into their shoulders. On Thursday, conservationists clapped in joy as the animals fled their cages and returned to the wild.
Three Rescued Orangutans Discovered Pregnant Before Release
Among the nine released orangutans were four pairs of mothers and their young. Final health checks before release revealed a surprise: three of the mothers were pregnant again. One of the expecting apes is Mama Ocha, who was rescued alongside her baby, Ocha. Sanchez noted that the team will stay around to make sure she is all right, can deliver her baby, and achieve an excellent outcome.
The rescued animals spent four to eight weeks recovering in a rehabilitation centre in Ketapang. YIARI veterinarian Ishma Maula explained that their release could not be delayed any longer because the apes had grown extremely stressed and exhibited abnormal behavior during quarantine. Batu Nyambu was chosen because its forests remain largely untouched and provide abundant food and shelter. To reach the release site, the team traveled by car, kayak, and hours on foot through dense forest.
Parallel rescue operations unfolded across the region. A female Bornean orangutan nicknamed Novita was rescued after being found clinging to a nearly leafless tree as dense smoke billowed across the Katune forest in Central Kalimantan province. Jamartin Sihite, chairman of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, stated that Novita suffered burns on the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet. Estimated to be 3 to 4 years old, Novita was tranquilized, given oxygen and intravenous fluids, and taken to the rehabilitation center in Nyaru Menteng.
Broader Crisis Driven by Drought and Land Clearing
The severity of Indonesian woodland and vegetation blazes has escalated this current year due to El Niño driving an extended dry season across both Sumatra and Borneo. Water shortages have hampered firefighting efforts, prompting Japan to provide firefighting assistance to the island. Tragically, not all rescues ended successfully. Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry reported that a male orangutan named Sampurna, believed to be around 20 years old, was found struggling to breathe early last month on a palm oil plantation in West Kalimantan’s Ketapang district and died hours after being rescued.
Government data shows more than 202,000 hectares of land burned between January and July, while the independent Nusantara Atlas project estimated that nearly 896,000 hectares had burned by the end of August. Across a broader timeline for the year, Nusantara Atlas estimates blazes consumed more than 1.9 million hectares in the first nine months. Experts link much of the destruction to slash-and-burn land-clearing practices associated with timber, palm oil, and mining operations.
The toxic haze and smoke have also triggered a health crisis in neighboring countries, drifting more than 800 kilometers away to the Philippines and prompting authorities in Malaysia to declare an emergency in Sarawak. Andi Muhammad Kadhafi, head of Central Kalimantan’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency, emphasized the broad stakes of the disaster. Fire prevention, habitat protection, monitoring, and rapid response need to go hand in hand, he noted.
Indonesian Forestry Minister Leads Male Orangutan Release
In a separate deployment, Indonesian Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni led the release of two additional male Bornean orangutans named Adil and Gigih, aged eight and 10, into their natural habitat in Ketapang. The pair were evacuated a day earlier from an oil palm plantation in Laman Satong Village. Antoni carried out the release alongside YIARI CEO Dr. Karmele Llano Sanchez, police, and military personnel.
“While we are delighted that these orangutans have been rescued from the oil palm plantation, it is sad to realize that there remains a lot of work ahead of us for orangutans,” Antoni said, emphasizing the shared responsibility to protect natural habitats. The minister further noted that the Ministry of Forestry will continue collaborating with YIARI on mitigation efforts, including wildfire protection, and encouraged the public to notify authorities immediately if orangutans wander into residential areas.
According to Indonesia’s forestry ministry, at least 51 orangutans were rescued from burning forests in West Kalimantan between early August and mid-October, while total wildlife rescues across Kalimantan surpassed 270 animals as of Saturday. Conservation group WWF estimates that only around 104,000 orangutans remain in the wild in Borneo and Sumatra, representing less than half the estimated population from a century ago.
