A picture of Mama Anti and her baby being rescued from the fires by IAR’s team in Indonesia has captured the media’s attention worldwide.
The photograph shows our rescue team caring for a mother orangutan and her tiny baby. They were forced out of their forest home as a result of the fires and ended up in a village. The villagers were frightened and threw things at the terrified mother before attempting to capture and tie her up.
Fortunately IAR’s team got to her just in time. They quickly anaesthetised the mother with her frightened baby clinging on tightly throughout. The adult female was extremely thin but still had milk to nourish the baby. She had some minor skin wounds and the team removed rope that was tied around her wrist. They checked her over and gave her treatment including intravenous fluids.
As the mother began to recover from sedation, the pair were loaded up and transported to the conservation area of PT KAL, where they are being monitored by the oil palm company’s conservation team and report they are both adapting well.
This video shows the release from the transport cage, the mother climbs directly up a tree and starts to forage.