Indonesia releases eight orangutans rescued from fires into West Kalimantan's Batu Nyambu Protected Forest

11 October 2026

Indonesia's forestry ministry and the wildlife group IAR Indonesia (YIARI) said on 11 October 2026 that eight orangutans rescued from fires had been released into the Batu Nyambu Protected Forest in West Kalimantan.
The eight were three mother-and-baby pairs and two male teenagers; the 23,000-hectare reserve has primary and secondary forest.
Authorities and the group rescued 46 orangutans from fire threats between August and 9 October.
Fires, linked this year to El Niño and to slash-and-burn land clearing, have caused tens of thousands of respiratory illness cases locally and haze in Singapore and Malaysia.
The IUCN has warned that fires are burning in habitats holding 52 percent of Borneo's orangutan population.
Orangutans are critically endangered; WWF puts their number at about 104,000, down from more than 230,000 a century ago.