FAREWELL TO 2023: NYARU MENTENG CELEBRATES FREEDOM FOR EIGHT ORANGUTANS IN BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA NATIONAL PARK

The Central Kalimantan Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA), the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR) Agency, the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation, and other parties are releasing eight more rehabilitated orangutans into the forest of TNBBBR, specifically in Region II under the National Park Management Office of Kasongan. Before being released into the forest of TNBBBR, the eight orangutans, consisting of three males and five females, underwent rehabilitation at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Central Kalimantan.

Eight orangutans from the BOS Foundation’s Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre will be transported to TNBBBR in Katingan Regency in two staggered trips to separate release locations. The first trip will take four orangutans to the forest in the  Bemban watershed on December 12, 2023, and the second trip will bring four orangutans to the forest in the Hiran watershed on December 14, 2023.

One of the orangutans being released is Cinta, a female orangutan who was rescued on February 14, 2013 in Kuala Kurun, Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan Province. She was only four months old and weighed just 2 kg when she first arrived at the centre without her mother.

Cinta entered Forest School after passing quarantine and successfully completed all levels. She was relocated to Salat Island on April 7, 2021, to complete the final stage of her rehabilitation process. Cinta is a friendly orangutan that easily cooperated with our surrogate mothers, but also showed that she is the most dominant amongst the female orangutans her age. Cinta is outgoing and enjoys exploring new places. Now at 11 years old and weighing 28 kg, Cinta is ready to live wild and free in the TNBBBR forest.

HEAD OF THE CENTRAL KALIMANTAN BKSDA, SADTATA NOOR ADIRAHMANTA, S.HUT., M.T., said “Today is a remarkable moment, allowing us to close out the year with the release of eight orangutans into Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park. Their rehabilitation over many years represents a major investment in preparing these wild animals, who have DNA is 97% identical to that of humans, to be released back into the wild. This step is important to ensure that orangutans who were rehabilitated at Nyaru Menteng are ready to reclaim their role in the natural balance when they return to their natural habitat. We hope that in the coming years, the released orangutans will be able to reproduce and help increase their population in the wild."

HEAD OF THE BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA NATIONAL PARK (TNBBBR), ANDI MUHAMMAD KADHAFI, S.HUT., M.SC., said "Since 2016, we have strategically chosen the Hiran and Bemban watersheds as orangutan release areas, with the aim of optimising their distribution within TNBBBR. This initiative is an important part of our commitment to creating healthy forest conditions. We recognise that Kalimantan orangutans have a role which is very important in maintaining forest quality and ecosystem integrity, especially in the TNBBBR area. We are obliged to protect them not only to survive, but also to live prosperously. Over the last 8 years, the TNBBBR Agency, the Central Kalimantan BKSDA, and the BOS Foundation have succeeded in reintroducing 200 orangutans here and with the addition of these 8 orangutans, the total number of orangutans successfully released in the Central Kalimantan TNBBBR area has reached 208.”

DR. IR. JAMARTIN SIHITE, MSC., CHAIRMAN OF THE BOS FOUNDATION, said, “The release of these eight orangutans is the fifth release to be carried out by the BOS Foundation and is a momentous way to close out 2023. Currently, there are around 400 orangutans still being rehabilitated by the BOS Foundation, many of whom are ready to live freely in the forest. However, the responsibility for protecting and conserving orangutans is not only that of the BOS Foundation and the BKSDA, but a joint effort that requires all parties and stakeholders to work together. The eight orangutans released today have completed the final stages of their rehabilitation process on a pre–release island in the Salat Island Cluster in Pulang Pisau Regency, Central Kalimantan. This pre–release island is a semi–wild habitat used to accommodate orangutans who have already completed their first stages of rehabilitation in Forest School. Here, the orangutans practice their previously learned skills to prepare them for life in the wild.”