Save the Orangutan makes targeted efforts to rescue displaced and orphaned orangutans and ensure the best conditions possible for their future survival. Sadly, thousands of orangutans die as a result of deforestation, hunting, and illegal wildlife trade where they are sold as pets or for entertainment purposes. Save the Orangutan works to give all orangutans their freedom back in natural environments.
Save the Orangutan supports rescue teams on hand at BOS Foundation’s rehabilitation centres in Borneo. Among other experts, these teams include veterinarians. The rescue teams work with representatives of local authorities to effectuate and carry out rescue operations.
Rescue teams usually respond to calls about displaced orangutans. The displaced orangutans are usually kept illegally as pets or for entertainment purposes or have been spotted without their mothers. Additionally, reports of malnourished orangutans wandering around the degraded forest areas or on plantations increase in numbers. Since orangutans are very territorial, they sometimes remain in an area even though it has been cleared and stripped of food sources.
The rescue teams bring the rescued orangutans to the Nyaru Menteng or the Samboja Lestari rehabilitation centre, managed by BOS Foundation. At the centres, the orangutans undergo a thorough medical examination by a qualified veterinarian.
Some orangutans will be released immediately – others require help
If the medical examination shows the rescued orangutan is healthy, it is released immediately to a protected rainforest area where it can return to a life in freedom as a wild orangutan. If the medical examination reveals malnourishment, injuries, or other traumas, the orangutan is cared for and looked after until it can be reintroduced to the rainforest.
Orphaned orangutans remain at the centres where they undergo a long rehabilitation process aimed at teaching them the skills necessary to survive on their own in the rainforest.
