At the request of the Forestry Department in West Kalimantan (BKSDA), IAR’s team in Indonesia has relocated 11 orangutans from a rescue centre in Sintang to our own emergency rescue and rehabilitation facility in Ketapang. This raises the number of orangutans in the IAR centre to 38.
Although well fed and healthy, the animals were being kept without a licence from the Forestry Department which gave the authorities cause for concern over the orangutans’ immediate security and their future long term care. All the animals had previously been rescued from captivity and some of them had spent years living in deplorable conditions.
Before the relocation went ahead, an IAR vet carried out a thorough veterinary examination and behavioural assessment of the orangutans to determine whether each animal was in a satisfactory physical and mental condition to be relocated to the Ketapang centre. All animals that are brought in to the facility undergo a period in quarantine before they begin the process of rehabilitation and socialisation.
The orangutans arrived at IAR’s centre on 30 May after a 48 hour journey by road and by boat. Three rangers also made the trip which was organised and coordinated by IAR vets Dr Anita and Dr Adi, from sedating the orangutans before the trip right through to their arrival in Ketapang. Karmele Llano Sanchez, Executive Director of IAR Indonesia, said: “All 11 orangutans from the centre in Sintang arrived safely at IAR’s facility at 8am today. They are in good condition and look perfectly healthy.
“I would like to thank and congratulate our team from Ketapang for doing such a good job and showing such professionalism throughout the relocation. Now the really tough task begins with the rehabilitation of 11 more orangutans!”
Alan Knight OBE, Chief Executive of International Animal Rescue, said: “We now need to focus our efforts on building the best orangutan conservation centre in the world so we can give all the orangutans we rescue the greatest possible chance of returning to the wild.
“Our thanks go to our American partner Orangutan Outreach for meeting the costs of the entire relocation operation.”
International Animal Rescue has started building a new orangutan conservation centre not far from the existing facility with funding from a generous UK benefactor. However, the charity still needs to raise significant sums of money to complete the construction and cover the project’s running costs.