Rescuing Orangutans From Fire Was Step One. Step Two Was a Long, Slippery Walk

Nine orangutans pulled from wildfires in Indonesian Borneo are back in the trees, according to AFP. Conservationists released them into Batu Nyambu, a 23,000-hectare protected forest in West Kalimantan province.¹⁴

Four mother-and-baby pairs were among the nine. One mother, Mama Ocha, was rescued along with her baby, Ocha.¹⁴

Every one of them counts. About 104,000 orangutans remain in Borneo and Sumatra, down from more than 230,000 a century ago, according to WWF. In September, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned that fires were burning in habitats that hold 52 percent of Borneo’s orangutans.²

Weeks of recovery, then a long walk

After the fires and smoke, the orangutans spent four to eight weeks recovering at a rehabilitation center in Ketapang.¹

Getting them to the forest took real effort. Conservation workers trekked for hours over steep, slippery ground, carrying the animals in cages slung from poles.¹

Why Batu Nyambu

The forest was picked because it is still largely untouched, with plenty of food and shelter. That gives the animals their best shot at rebuilding their lives.¹³ How well they will survive in the wild after release is not yet known.

Earlier in October, AFP reported on another group that went to the same forest. On Friday, October 9, eight rescued orangutans (three mother-and-baby pairs and two teenage males) were moved to Batu Nyambu, which has both primary and secondary forest. Indonesia’s forestry ministry and YIARI, an orangutan rescue foundation, announced that release.²

Argitoe Ranting, YIARI’s operational director, said that earlier release site was chosen for its food and water and because it connects to other forests.²

“We want to ensure that rescued orangutans are not simply moved from one place to another, but actually have a chance to survive in their natural habitat.”

Ranting made that remark in AFP’s report on the earlier release.²

The fires are still the bigger problem

These releases are a rescue success, not a fix for what drove the animals out. The fires grew worse this year because of El Niño, and experts also point to slash-and-burn land clearing. The smoke caused severe haze, with tens of thousands of cases of respiratory illness locally and spikes in air pollution as far away as Singapore and Malaysia.²

Rescue counts vary by source. Murlan Dameria Pane, head of the local natural resources agency, said authorities and YIARI rescued 46 orangutans from fire threats between August and October 9.² Indonesia’s forestry ministry later put the total at at least 51 rescued from burning forests in West Kalimantan between early August and mid-October.³⁴

Karmele Llano Sanchez, YIARI’s chief executive, explained the thinking behind the rescues in AFP’s report.²

“Protection of habitats will always be a top priority to ensure orangutans continue to have safe forests to live in, but as long as their habitat remains threatened, rescue is one of the best options we can take to help them survive,”