Key facts
- Eight endangered orangutans were moved to a safe location in Indonesia's Borneo region.
- The relocation occurred due to wildfires destroying the orangutans' habitat.
- Rescues took place between August and September.
- The orangutans were moved to the Batu Nyambu protected forest.
- Since August, 46 orangutans affected by fires have been rescued.
- Fires have burned around 202,000 hectares in Indonesia from January to July, with NGOs estimating at least 600,000 more hectares burned since.
Indonesian authorities and conservationists successfully relocated eight endangered orangutans to a protected forest area after wildfires destroyed their habitat on Borneo. The rescues, which included three mother-child pairs and two adolescent males, took place between August and September.
The Southeast Asian nation is experiencing its most severe wildfires in 11 years, primarily on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with the government warning that the blazes could persist until November due to the El Niño weather pattern.
The operation to move the orangutans to Batu Nyambu protected forest involved a six-hour car journey, an hour by boat, and a two-hour trek on foot, with the animals transported in cages carried on bamboo poles. Conservationists from Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) conducted health checks before the relocation.
Since August, the West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency and YIARI have rescued a total of 46 orangutans affected by the fires, according to agency head Murlan Dameria Pane. From January to July this year, fires consumed approximately 202,000 hectares (500,000 acres) in Indonesia. Non-governmental organizations estimate that an additional 600,000 hectares have burned since then, though official data for subsequent months has not been released.
The haze from these fires has led to 175,000 cases of respiratory illness in Indonesia and has impacted air quality in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, causing school closures.