Eight Orangutans Relocated to Ketapang Protected Forest Amid Wildfire Threat
Eight Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in West Kalimantan have been relocated to Batu Nyambu Protected Forest in Ketapang regency. The move was made to protect them from the threat of forest and land fires.
“The relocation on 9 October 2026 was the first transfer of orangutans affected by fires to a habitat considered suitable and relatively safe from the risk of burning,” West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) head Murlan Dameria Pane said in Pontianak on Sunday (11 October), Antara reported.
The eight orangutans, which had lost their habitat to fires, comprise three mother-and-offspring pairs and two juvenile males.
They were rescued from fire-affected sites in Ketapang and North Kayong regencies between August and September 2026.
Fires in Kalimantan have destroyed forest cover, severed corridors between areas and left orangutans isolated on plantations with limited food sources and living space.
This has increased the risk of conflict with people and threatens the survival of the protected animals.
Among the relocated primates are Mama Man and her offspring, Man, who were evacuated from Tempurukan village in Ketapang on 3 September. They had been surviving on a community plantation near a forest area increasingly threatened by fire.
Four others — Mama Nopi and her offspring, Nopi, as well as two juvenile males named Naufal and Nopan — were rescued from Pemangkat village in North Kayong regency on 4 September.
Mama Lifa and her offspring, Lifa, were evacuated on 18 September from an oil palm plantation in Pelang village, Ketapang.
Before being moved, all the orangutans underwent health checks, received medical treatment as needed and were monitored at the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre run by the Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) in Sungai Awan, Ketapang.
All were declared healthy and continued to display natural behaviours as wild animals.
YIARI operations director Argitoeranting said Batu Nyambu Protected Forest was selected following an assessment of habitat suitability and ecological carrying capacity.
The area, which covers about 23,000 hectares, has primary and secondary forest cover, water sources, food plants and trees suitable for nesting.
“Even amid the current fires, this location remains quite safe and has not burned so far,” he said.
YIARI chief executive Karmele Llano Sánchez added that the relocation would give the orangutans the opportunity to live freely again in their natural habitat.
From August to 9 October 2026, the West Kalimantan BKSDA and YIARI rescued a total of 46 Bornean orangutans affected by fires.