11 orangutans safely evacuated after forest fire in East Kalimantan

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1 hour ago

Samarinda, East Kalimantan (ANTARA) – The East Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and its partners are closely monitoring the health of 11 orangutans following their emergency evacuation from a forest fire in the Indonesian part of Borneo.

Head of the East Kalimantan BKSDA M. Ari Wibawanto confirmed here on Friday that a joint medical and rescue team is continuously monitoring the primates.

“The 11 orangutans are currently in healthy and safe condition, despite the limited facilities,” he said.

The evacuation took place on Tuesday (Sept. 1) after a severe land fire breached the boundaries of a protected forest reserve in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, where the orangutans were undergoing rehabilitation.

The sudden relocation from the 130-hectare free-roaming orangutan forest school to enclosed evacuation cages in Samboja has caused significant behavioral changes in the primates, including signs of boredom due to the lack of natural canopy stimulation.

To minimize stress and maintain the animals’ cognitive development, a joint medical team is accompanying them throughout the post-disaster observation period.

The crisis unfolded on Tuesday when morning patrols detected small embers outside the rehabilitation zone. By 12:30 p.m. local time (GMT+8), fires in an adjacent area had begun to intensify.

Fanned by strong winds, the blaze grew rapidly by 2 p.m., overwhelming initial mitigation efforts and advancing toward the reserve.

At 4 p.m., the flames breached the reserve’s boundary, triggering a full emergency response. Animal keepers immediately guided the 11 orangutans away from the forest school toward a riverside evacuation route.

Wibawanto praised the swift response, noting that the evacuation was safely completed in less than two hours. By 6:30 p.m., joint firefighting teams had successfully extinguished the blaze within the reserve.