The release of nine orangutan orphans back into the wild in two protected forests in Borneo marks a record of 100 released orangutans by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
One of the protected forests is a 100,000-hectare piece of land purchased with funds donated to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) by Australian businessman, John Cochrane.
“Australians can be very proud of the vital role they have played in making our world-first program, designed to salvage orangutans from the brink of extinction, so successful,” said Tony Gilding, President of BOS Australia.
“In addition to an Australian donor so generously providing rainforest for these orangutans to live safely in for years to come, our Aussie adoption program has delivered the funds required to not only care for these orangutans over a period of years, but to pay for their complex release journey,” he said.
These journeys cost as much as $10,000, along with the cost of monitoring the orangutans for as long as six months after release.
BOS has been rescuing endangered orphaned orangutans since February 2012, and organising their release back into the wild of the protected Borneo rainforests.
Only one out of six orphaned orangutans are actually rescued and taken to rehabilitation centres.
Most are brought to the “Orangutan Forest School” rehabilitation centre; here young abandoned and often injured orangutans are nurtured back to health by maternity carers before being taught the necessary skills to endure life in the wild.
Every orphaned orangutan has lost its mother either due to poaching, or by wandering into a palm oil or paper plantation.
Orangutans comprise 98 per cent of human DNA, and like most apes have the ability to think and reason.
They are highly intelligent species, and hence the loss of a mother is devastating and enduring.
‘Wild orangutans are at threat of extinction within this decade if the trend in deforestation for logging, mining, settlements, palm oil plantations and cash crops continues,’ says the UN’s Environmental Program (UNEP).
Though not all doom and gloom as Mr Gilding states that, “BOS pledges to continue working tirelessly to help deliver the promise of freedom to the 600 orangutans currently in our care that are ready for release.
“Our aim is to return them to their rightful jungle home by 2015, but to do so, BOSF will require ongoing fundraising support from organisations such as BOS Australia.”
So who is the 100th orangutan released into the wild?
Her name is Inge, nicknamed “Miss Clean” for unsual habits of only playing indoors.
The BOS Foundation helped Inge prepare for her natural rainforest habitat by building her self-confidence through participation in “Forest School,” where she became more social and interactive.
This helped build confidence and gain the essential skills to life in the wild. “Letting Inge go has been bitter sweet for the team at Samboja Lestari, who have cared for and nurtured her for 11 years,” said Mr Gilding.
To make a donation or adopt an orangutan, download the new BOS app, or to find out other ways to help, visit the BOS Australia website at www.orangutans.com.au
