BOS Release 12 Orangutans to Natural Habitat

Balikpapan, East Kalimantan (Antara) - The Borneo Orangutan Foundation (BOS) has released 12 orangutans from its rehabilitation center in Nyaru Menteng to their natural habitat in Central Kalimantan's Bukit Batikap natural forest. In the meanwhile, the foundation has also released five orangutans from the rehabilitation center in Samboja Lestari in East Kalimantan to Nyaru Menteng, which is located in the Central Kalimantan province. "The release (of the orangutans to their natural habitat) this time was done to mark Earth Day, which is commemorated across the world on April 22," Paulina L. Ela, the BOS foundation spokesperson, stated here on Friday. She reported that the five orangutans who were re-introduced to their natural environment in Nyaru Menteng are Farudz, an 18-year-old male; Saswoko, a 16-year-old male; Friska, a 17-year-old female; Inou, an 18-year-old male; and Nike, a 17-year-old female. "They have to be released into the wild in Central Kalimantan because it is where they came from," asserted veterinarian Agus Irwanto, the manager of the Samboja Lestari program. Farudz and his colleagues belong to the Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii species, which is the sub-species of Pongo pygmaeus, living in the forests of Central Kalimantan. They mostly have a bigger physique as compared to Pongo pygmaeus morio, the sub-species that live in East Kalimantan. (*)