After the fantastic news we brought you earlier this week of five orangutans being released back into the rainforest from the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Sanctuary in Borneo, we have another amazing ape update!
One of the orangutans who graduated from the Samboja Forest School was spotted with a baby in the wild! Lesan was rescued by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) way back in 2006 when she was a toddler, and she then worked her way through the forest school programme before graduating and being released in 2012.
Developed by BOSF, the forest school programme is a way of gradually rehabilitating the orangutans that come into the sanctuary and preparing them with all of the relevant life skills to succeed in the wild.
Lesan was one of the first orangutans to be released into the Kehje Sewen area of rainforest in Borneo, and after her release an extensive post-release monitoring programme was put in place to ensure her safety in the wild.
The monitoring worked, as four years after her reintroduction to her natural home; Lesan was spotted with a new baby in her arms and it was clear all of the hard work BOSF had put in had been worth it! It is too early to determine whether this small ball of red fluff is a boy or a girl yet, but the post release monitoring team will be keeping a close eye on both mother and baby to ensure that they remain healthy.
Wiwik Astutik, the Forest School 1 Coodinator at BOSF said: "Since Lesan arrived at Samboja Lestari and joined with the forest school, we took care of her. I am overjoyed but also not surprised that she has now had a baby in the wild because from the time she joined us in 2008 she already exhibited great forest skills, such as nesting, finding forest fruits, and spending most of her time in the trees. Therefore I am confident she will be a great mother and teach her new baby everything it needs to know."
We are delighted to have been able to bring you even more good news surrounding the critically endangered orangutan this week. As soon as we receive any updates on the adventures of Lesan and her as of yet unnamed little one from the team at BOSF we will be sure to bring them to you! For now though, we can all rest safe in the knowledge that Lesan is an amazing mum and will continue to protect her baby.
