T

he orangutan rehabilitation institution in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, has had to change the way it selects sites for rescued orangutans that are considered ready to be released into the wild.

The fact that the natural habitat of orangutans continues to decrease due to forest and land fires has forced activists at the institution to become more selective in choosing release sites for these endemic animals of Kalimantan Island.

Program director of Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) Karmele Llano Sanchez said it was hard to imagine a bright future for orangutans if their habitat was rapidly disappearing, thanks to forest conversions and fires.

“Only when people care more for orangutans will the animals survive, although time is already running out,” Karmele told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Earlier this week, YIARI released three orangutans into an area within the Bukit Baka-Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR) area, which is located at the border of West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan provinces.

The release was jointly conducted by the West Kalimantan Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the TNBBBR agency.

The release team, which included 12 porters, travelled for 40 hours on land, followed by an hour-long cruise along a river and a four-hour walk before reaching the area.

The three orangutans were released in two batches. The first orangutan released was 25-year-old Sabtu on Tuesday. Sabtu was secured from a plantation in Ketapang regency in March, following a forest fire.

On the following morning, Butan and Marsela, two orangutans rescued when they were still about 2 to 3 years old in 2011 and 2012, were also released. They required an overnight stay inside their habituation cages before being released into the wild.

The last two orangutans were rescued because of the expansion of an oil palm plantation in Ketapang. Butan was saved by a local when it was almost dead due to malaria. Marsela was found alone by a security guard of the oil palm plantation.

During their stay at the rehabilitation shelter the orangutans were given training to help them survive in the wild. They were provided with facilities to encourage them to climb, look for food, make nests and learn different survival skills.

“In their habitat baby orangutans live with their mothers from when they are born until they are 7 to 8 years old. When a baby orangutan is found alone, its mother is definitely dead,” YIARI program manager Gail Campbell-Smith said.

After being released, the orangutans are monitored to ascertain whether they can climb tall trees, explore the surrounding area and look for foods.

Karmele said the rehabilitation process of orangutans took a long time. Even after being released into the forest, they are monitored for one to two years using a radio tracking device.

The monitoring also involves people from the surrounding villages, who are given training to help them collaborate with the team monitoring and observing orangutan behavior.

They follow orangutans after their release and make notes on the behavior, ensuring that they can survive in the jungle.