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Threatened orangutans evacuated from North Sumatra villages

North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency’s (BKSDA) Region II Stabat head Bobby Nopandry said hundreds of orangutans currently live outside TNGL.

Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post)
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Wed, May 13, 2026 Published on May. 13, 2026 Published on 2026-05-13T00:05:45+07:00

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Pesek, 28, perches in her nest with her baby, her seventh born as part of a conservation program, in this undated video still taken in a section of the Mount Leuser National Park in Bahorok district, Langkat regency, North Sumatra. Pesek, 28, perches in her nest with her baby, her seventh born as part of a conservation program, in this undated video still taken in a section of the Mount Leuser National Park in Bahorok district, Langkat regency, North Sumatra. (Courtesy of Mount Leuser National Park/-)

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everal Sumatran orangutans in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, among hundreds threatened with extinction because of conflicts with humans, have been evacuated from plantation areas for release into the wild in Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL).

North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency’s (BKSDA) Region II Stabat head Bobby Nopandry said hundreds of orangutans currently live outside the TNGL.

He said the orangutans are spread around plantations owned by villagers and corporations in the Langkat districts of Bahorok, Batang Serangan, Sei Lepan, Besitang and Sawit Seberang.

The plantation areas were initially natural habitats for orangutans.

“The transformation of orangutan habitats into plantations started in the last century,” Bobby told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

“Human settlers then changed the forests into plantations, threatening orangutans into extinction.”

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He added that many orangutans fell victim to human development. To save the protected animal from extinction, the BKSDA and several volunteers evacuate and release into the wild any orangutans that come into conflict with humans.

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