YEAR WRAPS UP WITH EIGHT REHABILITATED ORANGUTANS RELEASED IN THE BUKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA NATIONAL PARK

The Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park Office, together with the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation and a number of other parties, are releasing more orangutans in the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR). The release of these orangutans, all of whom have completed a lengthy rehabilitation process, is part of an involved and collaborative effort to protect and preserve Bornean orangutans in Kalimantan.

Eight orangutans - four males and four females - from the BOS Foundation’s Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre will be transported to TNBBBR in Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan Province, where they will be released into the forest. The release will consist of two separate trips, one will take place today with four orangutans, and the other four will be transported two days later.

NUR PATRIA KURNIAWAN, S.HUT., M.SC., Head of the Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), welcomes the event; "Today, eight orangutans will be released back to the wild. Their rehabilitation process ranges from 5-15 years, which proves that rehabilitation can take a relatively long time. The Indonesian government is committed to preserving Indonesia's biodiversity through systematic conservation efforts like this, the reintroduction of rehabilitated orangutans into a natural habitat."

"An orangutan release is just one step in a series of stages, which includes animal rescue, a lengthy rehabilitation process, and regular post-release monitoring to ensure the animals are thriving and can breed in their new habitat."

AGUNG NUGROHO, S.Si, M.A., Head of the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park Office (TNBBBR) added, "The journey to the release points, located in the Hiran watershed, is long and challenging. We will travel by land and river, which will take approximately 15-20 hours, including rest stops. Post-release monitoring will be carried out intensively by a specialist team in the national park, to ensure these newly-released orangutans will adjust well to their new habitat.

"The TNBBBR Office, together with the Central Kalimantan BKSDA and in collaboration with the BOS Foundation and other stakeholders, has succeeded in releasing 185 orangutans into the forests of the TNBBBR since 2016, including those who will be released today. The total number of orangutans released into the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park since 2016 - in both Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces with our related partners - has now reached 241, with five forest births among these individuals thus far."

DR. IR. JAMARTIN SIHITE, the BOS Foundation CEO said, "This release is very timely, as it coincides with International Animal Rights Day. We at the BOS Foundation are thrilled to be releasing more orangutans who have completed the rehabilitation process. These orangutans have undergone many years of rehabilitation, and as such are well and truly ready to live in the wild. The eight orangutans, together with members of our release team, had to first undergo PCR swab testing for SARS-CoV-2, to prove they were negative for the virus. Today, I can confirm that they are all ready to take the journey."

"I would like to emphasise that the BOS Foundation has been working for 30 years in the field of orangutan conservation and we will continue to work for orangutans and their habitat in Kalimantan."