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View all search resultsOrangutans rescued from fires released to protected forest
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This handout picture taken on September 4, 2026 and released on September 10, 2026 by the Forestry Ministry and conservation group International Animal Rescue (IAR) Indonesia shows a rescue operation for orangutans caught up in wildfires in Pemangkat village in West Kalimantan. (AFP/International Animal Rescue (IAR) Indonesia/Muffidz Ma’sun)
E
ight orangutans rescued in recent weeks from blazes that tore through West Kalimantan have been released into a protected forest, Indonesian authorities and rescuers said on Sunday.
The apes were saved from several locations razed by fires – mostly plantations near their forest homes – in West Kalimantan last month, the Forestry Ministry and conservation group International Animal Rescue (IAR) Indonesia said in a statement.
The orangutans, three mom and baby pairs as well as two male teenagers, were relocated on Friday to the Batu Nyambu Protected Forest in West Kalimantan, a 23,000-hectare reserve with primary and secondary forest cover.
IAR Indonesia CEO Karmele Llano Sanchez said relocating the animals to a new location was a "necessary step" when their habitat was no longer safe.
"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," Sanchez said.
The reserve was chosen due to availability of food and water sources as well as its connectivity to other forests, said IAR Indonesia operational director Argitoe Ranting.
"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," Argitoe said.
Indonesian authorities and IAR Indonesia rescued 46 orangutans from threats of fires between August and Oct. 9, West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency head Murlan Dameria Pane said.
Orangutans are critically endangered, and around 104,000 orangutans remain in Kalimantan and Sumatra, down from more than 230,000 a century ago, according to conservation group WWF.
Last month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned fires were burning in habitats containing 52 percent of Borneo's orangutan population.
Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, but the fires have intensified this year because of the El Nino weather phenomenon, set to be one of the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago.
Experts have also pointed to slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape.
The fires have created severe haze locally, with tens of thousands of cases of respiratory illnesses, and also caused regional air pollution spikes in Singapore and Malaysia.
