4 Orangutans Successfully Reintroduced to Natural Habitat
10 January 2018 21:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Four orangutans were reintroduced into their natural habitat today at Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) together with the Central Kalimantan’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) released two males and two females orangutans to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR).
The orangutans traveled 12 hours on land and river from Nyaru Menteng to the several locations across TNBBBR. “These four orangutans are more than ready to continue their lives in the wild,” said BOSF CEO Jamartin Sihite.
Read: The Orangutan's Return Home
According to Jamartin, hundreds of orangutans in Nyaru Menteng are waiting for the reintroduction. To accelerate their release process, the BOSF set several pre-reintroduction islands that closely resemble a natural forest for the orangutans to accustom to.
“To continue our #OrangutanFreedom campaign, this year we plan on releasing 200 orangutans either to the pre-reintroduction islands, orangutan asylum islands, or natural forests,” Jamartin added.
Meanwhile, Head of the TNBBBR Heru Raharjo publically voiced his appreciation for the partnership developed between the BOSF, Central Kalimantan BKSDA, and the USAID Lestari in the TNBBBR orangutan reintroduction process.
“By having many orangutans that can go back and live freely in the forest means that it is a huge achievement to the conservation attempts of one of the protected great ape species,” said Heru Raharjo.
Erwin Prima
