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View all search resultsOne orangutan dies, more rescued as wildfire rages
Sempurna, an adult male Bornean orangutan previously found weak in a community oil palm plantation in West Kalimantan’s Ketapang, died after suffering from low blood oxygen level from inhaling too much wildfire smoke, as confirmed by authorities.
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Sempurna, an adult male Bornean orangutan, receives emergency treatment after being rescued at an oil palm plantation near an area affected by wildfires in Kuala Satong village, Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan on Aug. 30, 2026. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
A
n orangutan died and dozens others were rescued as forest and land fires ravaging Kalimantan continue to threaten not only humans, but also wildlife and their remaining habitats.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) confirmed that an adult male Bornean orangutan named Sempurna died on Sunday, shortly after the agency and conservation group International Animal Rescue (IAR) Indonesia rescued him.
Sempurna was found weak and hard to breathe in a dried up ditch at a community oil palm plantation in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, one of regions worst affected by forest and land fire across Kalimantan.
After receiving first aid, the orangutan was taken to IAR’s rehabilitation center for further treatment. But Sempurna stopped breathing at around 2 p.m. on the same day, and was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m. after being performed heart and lung resuscitation.
The rescue team later found that Sempurna suffered from acute hypoxia, a condition where the oxygen concentration in blood is dangerously low, which contributed to cardiovascular dysfunction and is believed to lead to his death.
“He presented clear signs of respiratory distress, which was very likely associated with smoke inhalation,” IAR Indonesia chief executive officer Karmele Llano Sánchez told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Read also: Burning Kalimantan forests put orangutans at risk
