The Orangutan Project funds orangutan rescue teams in Sumatra and Borneo that are highly trained and skilled at relocating wild orangutans in high-risk situations into protected forest habitat.
These rescue teams also confiscate illegally held ‘pet’ orangutans. Sadly, many infant orangutans are kept and sold illegally as pets. Infant orangutans are often highly traumatised after witnessing the brutal killing of their mothers, and require many years of dedicated care and rehabilitation to learn the skills their mothers would have taught them.
Young orangutans at the rescue centres are taken out for ‘forest school’ outings where they can develop the skills that they need to survive in the wild including nest building, travelling in the forest canopy and identifying natural food sources.
Often young orangutans watch and learn how to build nests from other more experienced orangutans at forest school. It is also vital that young orangutans do not come to the ground, especially in Sumatra, since the Sumatran tiger is a natural predator.
Orangutans are closely monitored during jungle school, to make sure they are fully equipped to thrive in the wild. Even after release, orangutans are closely monitored to ensure they are adapting to full-time jungle life. The Orangutan Project supports the post-release monitoring of orangutans at numerous sites in both Borneo and Sumatra with a particular focus on the newly established Sumatran orangutan population in the Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem in Sumatra.
Thank you for supporting the rescue, rehabilitation and release of Critically Endangered orangutans!