This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Deep in a forest in Indonesian Borneo, conservationists open a cage. A female orangutan and her baby waste little time, clambering up the towering trees and disappearing into the canopy, safe at last.
The pair were among nine orangutans rescued from devastating wildfires ravaging their forest home in Ketapang, West Kalimantan province, in August and September. Nursed back to health over several weeks, they now have a new home in Batu Nyambu, a 23,000-hectare (56,800-acre) protected area in the same province. When they were rescued, the animals were in bad shape, YIARI wildlife rehabilitation foundation CEO Karmele Llano Sanchez told journalists who went along for the release.
"Some of them had burns on their hands and feet, and some of them were skinny and malnourished," said Sanchez. "They had to be cared for and fed until they were in good condition again." The journey to get them to their new home was long and arduous, with conservation workers trekking for hours through steep, slippery terrain, carrying the orangutans in cages suspended from poles digging into their shoulders. Conservationists clapped in joy as the apes fled the cages on Thursday and returned to the wild where they belong.
Among the nine orangutans were four pairs of mothers and their young. Sanchez said three of the mothers were pregnant again—a fact discovered during the final health check before their release. One of those expecting is Mama Ocha, who was rescued along with her baby, Ocha.
"The team will stay around to make sure that she is all right and that she can deliver her baby, and that will be an excellent outcome," said Sanchez. Once widespread across Southeast Asia, orangutans are now critically endangered. According to conservation group WWF, only around 104,000 remain in the wild in Borneo and Sumatra, less than half the estimated population a century ago.
The rescued orangutans spent four to eight weeks recovering in a rehabilitation center in Ketapang, regaining their strength after the trauma of the fires and smoke. YIARI veterinarian Ishma Maula said their release could not be delayed any longer. "While they were in quarantine and rehabilitation, they were extremely stressed and showed abnormal behavior," she said.
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