An Update From Samboja - 10 Orangutans Head To The Island To Prepare For Their Release!

Posted by Leanne Sturrock on 7th Sep 2017

You may have noticed that this month is all about the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Volunteer Project. With 15% off the price of your experience, there is already good reason to hurry to book your place. But, following some exciting news from the team at Samboja, the emotional end-goal of BOSF’s efforts is once again in sight for 10 of Samboja’s orangutans.

On Tuesday the 5^th of September, the BOS Foundation officially commented activities on a new, 82.84 hectare pre-release island, located in East Kalimantan. The island has been prepared ahead of the arrival of 10 orangutans from Samboja Lestari, with their intended release into the forest expected to follow sometime in the future.

The orangutans heading for the island have so far undergone a lengthy rehabilitation process, with years of progress taking them through ‘nursery’ and various skills being acquired in the years after, enabling the orangutans to learn skills to enable them to survive in the wild. The island is the final step in the orangutans’ rehabilitation process, allowing them to live in a semi-wild environment while their adaptations are monitored.

Jamartin Sihite, the CEO of BOSF, states: ‘We are still rehabilitating more than a hundred orangutans in Samboja Lestari ready for release. BOS Foundation needs to accelerate the rehabilitation cycle which includes pre-release and release, by setting up special conservation areas with suitable carrying capacity for orangutans. With this island we call “Juq Kehje Swen”, which means “orangutan island” in Dayak language, plus some new pre-release islands already in use in Samboja Lestari, we are confident that we can speed up the process of releasing orangutans currently cared for in our rehabilitation centre.’

‘However, that is only one aspect of our efforts in orangutan and habitat conservation. If forests keep being destroyed, opened, and converted, wildlife such as orangutans will continue to be hunted, displaced, and fragmented. And this process will continue whilst our forests continue to shrink, until all is lost and it can no longer support biodiversity, and provide environmental services, that includes environmental services for humans. Therefore, we must work together now to protect forests from damage and wildlife from extinction. Let them live in their natural state.’

If you would like to get involved with orangutan conservation, please head to the project page for the Samboja Lestari orangutan project by clicking here. The 15%-off offer ends at midnight (UK time) on the 30^th of September, so be sure to book your place soon!

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