A wild male orangutan had to be captured and relocated when he got too close to a village. An incident that gave rise to both fear and curiosity among the villagers.
It was in September 2023 that a wild male orangutan approached a village in Borneo. When orangutans do this, it often stirs fear among humans, and such encounters can also be dangerous for the orangutan because close contact between animals and humans poses a health risk. Authorities and our Indonesian partner organization BOS Foundation were contacted to handle the situation.
Meanwhile, the residents tried to scare the orangutan away. This prevented it from moving into the village. Instead, the male stayed in a tree nearby, near the river bank. By the time the BOS Foundation and the authority (BKSDA) arrived, a large crowd had gathered to watch – complicating the rescue mission.
The vets prepared to use a stun gun, but the clever orangutan quickly discovered this. He could instinctively sense that danger was imminent, and quickly moved from tree to tree to avoid being caught. But with a lot of patience and waiting, the vets finally managed to shoot a stun dart into his back.
Once he had fallen asleep, they could do a health check. The orangutan was later examined more thoroughly at the BKSDA headquarters. After that, he was temporarily moved to the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Center, where he was given the name Oyo. A few days later, he was transfered to a new area in the rainforest to avoid contact with human settlements.
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