Eight orangutans have been released back into the wild in Borneo after they were taken into captivity when their habitat was threatened by devastating wildfires this summer.
Three mother‑offspring groups and two adult males were freed Friday in a reserve in the island’s western highlands, according to International Animal Rescue Indonesia (Yiari) and the forestry ministry.
Indonesian authorities rescued 46 orangutans from fires in August and September; the season’s blazes were unusually intense due to a powerful El Niño storm that heightened heat and dry conditions.
The apes are critically endangered. Only about 104,000 orangutans remain in Borneo and Sumatra, down from more than 230,000 a century ago, the WWF reports.
Wildfires have long plagued Indonesia’s dry season, but intensified by El Niño and accelerated deforestation for palm oil, they now spread faster through thin plantations, putting wildlife in danger.
One rescued group, Mama Nopi and her three daughters, had been living in a coconut and rubber plantation before being air‑lifted out in September after the surrounding forest was razed.
Rescuers chose a reserve that offers abundant food, water and a corridor to other forest patches, ensuring the animals can resume natural living rather than being moved endlessly.
Yiari’s CEO Karmele Llano Sanchez said relocation is a “necessary step” to safeguard the orphaned and injured apes, and that the goal is to reintegrate them fully into the wild.
