MARKS WORLD WILDLIFE CONSERVATION DAY WITH ORANGUTAN RELEASE

This year we marked world Wildlife Conservation Day with the successful release of 11 rehabilitated orangutans from Nyaru Menteng to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya (BBBR) National Park. This event took place on December 6, and this is the third release into BBBR NP in collaboration with BKSDA and the national park authorities.

The seven female and four male orangutans, which included mother-offspring pair Sawa and Sawi, travelled to the forest in two separate groups: Bana, Beda, Juky, Mini, and Susi left Nyaru Menteng on December 6 and were release the following day; while Sarimin, Rina, Miri, Kisar, Sawa, and Sawi set off on December 8, and were also released the next day.

Once the orangutans were ready, the team moved them by 4×4 vehicles from Nyaru Menteng to the BBBR National Park. The destination was Tumbang Tundu village in Katingan Regency, which is the last village reachable by car on the outskirts of the national park. Here the team transferred the cages onto small boats, then travelled 5 hours along the Bemban River to the release camp located in the BBBR National Park.

Once the team arrived at the predetermined locations in the BBBR National Park, the orangutans were released back to their natural forest home.

With the release of these 11, the total number of orangutans released by the BOS Foundation to the BBBR National Park now stands at 29 individuals. This orangutan release from Nyaru Menteng was another great testament to our collaboration with all stakeholders concerned with orangutan and habitat conservation in Central Kalimantan.  A huge thanks to our donors including USAID Lestari and Zoos Victoria, for making this event possible!