ORPHANED ORANGUTANS KEEP ON ARRIVING

In the last two months, five orphaned orangutans have been given sanctuary by the BOS Foundation rehabilitation center in Nyaru Menteng.  All of these unfortunate young orangutans were rescued from recently cleared land or residential areas and their mothers were nowhere to be seen.  Some of them were being kept as pets and one almost sold on illegal pet trade.

We could only imagine the dreadful situation their mothers had to go through and their fight to save their children and their own lives.  These young orangutans will have to struggle to regain their confidence and rebuild their lives after such traumatic experiences.  The BOS Fundation is committed to providing the care and rehabilitation they need to eventually return them to safe natural habitat once they are old enough.
 

Ruru

Ruru is a two year old orangutan who was kept as a pet by a resident in Sampit. The people who kept her claimed that they found her on a road by a small forest in Sampit – a story we hear all too often.  Despite being taken care of by the family quite well compared to many other illegally held pet orangutans, Ruru has lost her mother and her home.  Ruru is now being taken care of by our baby sitters in Nyaru Menteng and learning the forest survival skills so she can one day be returned to natural habitat.
 

Tundai

Tundai was separated from her mother and kept illegally as a pet by a fisherman in Tundai Lake River for six months.  For those six months, the two year old orangutan lived in a small wooden cage and was never taken out and given the chance to move freely.  She was fed rice and once in a while, fruit.  Tundai is now being cared for by the baby sitters within our Nursery Group in Nyaru Menteng.
 

Lanting

Separated from his mother, Lanting was kept by humans and almost sold. Luckily he was confiscated through a rescue operation by the Central Kalimantan Conservation and Natural Resources Authority and now he lives in Nyaru Menteng. On arrival in Nyaru Menteng, his condition was very weak and he was suffering from malnutrition and anemia and needed medical intervention and care.  After an extended examination, he was also found to have a severe case of worms.

Lanting is now being taken care of by our babysitters in Nyaru Menteng. They are slowly introducing Lanting to forest fruits so he can start to recognize natural foods.  Bit by bit, the young orangutan is now getting used to eating ehang fruit given by the babysitters.

Katune

While the whole country was caught up in the excitement of the Presidential Election on 9 July 2014, the BOS Foundation Rescue Team from Nyaru Menteng travelled to Katune village to rescue a young orangutan.  Katune, a three year old male orangutan was trapped alone in a small remaining forest fragment behind a farm.

It was a sad view, a barren landscape was all that remained from forest clearing.  The last remaining forest patch behind the farm was also about to be cleared to make way for another farm.  Even though Katune still retains his wild behavior, he is still too young to live by himself in the wild so now he is being cared for by the babysitters in Nyaru Menteng.  He needs to learn all the skills he needs to successfully survive in the forest which will still take a few years.
 

Reren

Reren was kept as a pet by a resident of Jabiren who claimed to have found her by the Kahayan River. The person told us that the one year old female orangutan was stumbling and crawling alone in land by the river. One hundred hectares of land had been cleared to be used for farming and another 250 hectares was also planned for clearance. Not far from the cleared land, an oil palm plantation company was also clearing a land. Reren has lost her mother, her home, and her freedom.  Now with the love and care from our team in Nyaru Menteng, we hope to able to give Reren a chance in the future to live once again as a wild orangutan should.