Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia is celebrating their first year of rehabilitating and releasing orphaned orangutans. Borneo Orangutan Survival Australia is an extraordinary foundation which was founded by President, Tony Gilding and Vice President, Louise Grossfeldt. Twenty years in the making, the BOS team have established a remarkable program in the hope of saving orangutans from extinction. There is an estimated forty thousand orangutans remaining in the wild, and with roughly six thousand disappearing every year, the conservation of Orangutans is vital. In order to prevent extinction, BOS Indonesia and BOS Australia have built an orangutan sanctuary in Eastern Borneo. The reserve was named the "Samboja Lestari Project", which roughly translates as the "everlasting conservation project of the Samboja District". The Samboja Lestari Project specialises in orphan orangutans, some eight hundred and fifty of them have sought refuge at the sanctuary. Baby orangutans usually arrive at the sanctuary in poor health and motherless. With orangutans dependant on their mothers for the first seven years the loss of their mother affects them greatly. Many orangutans are found in horrific conditions, some dehydrated, malnourished and barely alive.
They all began life in Borneo’s rainforest, but the devastating forces of logging, poachers and mining have seen Borneo’s orang population plummet from one hundred and fifty thousand to less than forty thousand. Orangutan scientist and Vice President of BOS Australia, Louise Grossfeldt spoke to 60 Minutes reporter Allison Langdon, “The damage is massive; you only have to look across South-East Asia, in particular Borneo, to see the devastation,” she went on to say “But there is still a chance to stop what we are doing now. There is still enough of the rainforest left; but not a lot.”
In the wild orangutans completely rely on their mothers for the first seven years. So, each orphan at Samboja Lestari gets a foster mum. Local Indonesian women become the orangutan’s replacement mother. They become mums, showing tireless commitment, raising orangutans up until adolescence, providing one on one nurturing. If all goes well, around the age of five the orangs head off to school; forest school. According to Grossfeldt, “Forest school for the orangs is all about exploring, learning how to climb trees, trying new foods, playing in the water and mud.” Forest school is where the orangutans learn what to eat, how to make a nest, and how to travel; all the vital tools they need to know in order to survive in the wild, out on their own.
Orangutans are one of our closest relatives, sharing 98% of our DNA. Earlier this year, the twenty years in the making Samboja Lestari Project was put into full action when three of the reserves oldest and most adored orangutans, Leo (male), Juminten (female) and Titin (female) were momentously released back into the wild. The orangs were released into fifteen hectares of privately owned, pristine rainforest, where they would have a second chance at life. There was tremendous physical labor put into moving the orangutans from the sanctuary to the release location. They crossed rivers, and climbed mountains, a hard physical act that all involved was willing to do in order to give the orangutans hope for the future which they have. As the doors of the transportation cages opened, and each orangutan gracefully entered their new life, anyone and everyone who was a part of the Samboja Lestari Project had a tear in their eye. Right in front of them history was being made. Leo, Juminten and Tintin will be monitored closely for the next six months by rangers, but with the positive progress they are making, BOS are hoping to release another hundred plus orangutans back into the wild.
For little over a year now BOS has been providing hundreds of orphaned orangutans a second chance at life. The love and compassion shown by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Program is extraordinary. With so many dedicated people working tirelessly to protect orangutans hopefully we can defy the odds, and save these precious creatures from extinction. The Samboja Lestari Project really is making a difference in the world. Although BOS is focusing on saving Bornean orangutans, if all goes well this prevention of extinction method may be used to save other species. Witnessing the transformation and development of orangutans from infants to adolescence is truly beautiful, and thanks to the work of the local women all this is possible. Even though everything is beginning to fall into place there is still a lot of work still to be done, and you can help. With scientists predicting orangutan’s extinction within twenty years, it’s BOS’s mission to prevent extinction from happening. Without our collective help orangutans could be extinct in the wild within our lifetime, which is a daunting reality.
To help, visit http://www.orangutans.com.au/
Saving the Beautiful, Bornean Orangutans