Female orangutan and baby rescued from fire zone in Indonesia
Indonesian conservationists evacuated a female orangutan and her one-year-old baby from a smoke-filled area in Central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. The animals were spotted on Wednesday following a tip-off: the female was perched at the top of a tree surrounded by smoke from nearby burned peatlands.
Nighttime rescue operation
As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, rescuers discovered during the operation that the orangutan was with her baby. The female, estimated to be around 20 years old, was named Raya after a street near where she was found. Her one-year-old daughter was named Rayu.
Muriansyah, a representative of the local conservation agency, said the operation was carried out at night, with darkness and areas of recently burned land complicating the work. According to him, the animals had to be evacuated because of health risks associated with the haze.
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Animals taken to a clinic
A preliminary veterinary examination showed that Raya and Rayu were not injured and were not seriously affected by the smoke. They were taken to a clinic for observation. Heriyanto, a representative of the Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency, said the orangutans would be released into the wild if their condition allowed it to be done immediately.
Indonesia has been battling forest and land fires for several weeks, with thick haze covering parts of Borneo and Sumatra and spreading to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Last month, at least seven orangutans were rescued from fire-affected areas in West Kalimantan. Among them was an orangutan named Sampurna, who was found in thick smoke on August 30. A 2016 government study estimated Borneo's orangutan population at around 57,000 individuals.
