To play your part in helping to save this critically endangered great ape, volunteer with orangutans in Borneo for a chance to aid the rehabilitation and release of our closest relative.
Native to just two islands, Borneo and Sumatra, orangutans are currently only found in the rainforests of these islands or at a number of orangutan sanctuaries throughout Borneo.
They remain critically endangered and much of the orangutan volunteer programmes we offer at The Great Projects strive to help counteract this issue and help to rescue and rehabilitate these magnificent apes. Here at The Great Projects, we offer a number of award-winning orangutan volunteer projects that work to improve the lives of those apes in captivity, as well as those that successfully release orangutans into protected areas of the wild.
Orangutans play the role of the ‘gardeners’ of the forest, helping to maintain their overall health through seed dispersal and making gaps in the trees to allow sunlight through so the forest can naturally regenerate. They face many threats from habitat loss, poachers and the illegal wildlife trade.
By becoming an orangutan volunteer, you can play a vital role in assisting to bring these incredible creatures back from the brink, so why not take a look at our orangutan volunteer projects and secure your place today!
Both the Bornean and Sumatran Orangutan are considered critically endangered by the IUCN and this status looks unlikely to change any time soon. 100 years ago orangutan numbers were estimated to be around the 230,000 mark, but nowadays that number has dropped dramatically.
There are thought to be fewer than 54,000 Bornean orangutans left, and a tiny 6,000 Sumatran orangutans remaining. Population numbers of their newly discovered cousin, the Tapanuli orangutan, sit around just 900 individuals. With the population suffering from a 75% drop in just 100 years, the rate of decline is unsustainable and the orangutans are in grave danger of ceasing to exist. Few other animal species have suffered a population drop as drastic as that of the orangutan, and that is why change needs to happen and it needs to happen soon.
Orangutans are facing many threats, and these include:
Do More
Volunteer with orangutans on this award-winning orangutan project at Matang Wildlife Centre in beautiful Borneo!
Join International Animal Rescue in their quest to protect orangutans, deep within the Bornean rainforest.
Work on enrichment for 200 orangutans and 50 sun bears at the world renowned Samboja Lestari rescue centre
Travel with your family to Borneo, and see how you can aid orangutan conservation whilst meeting indigenous tribes-people on this exciting wildlife safari!
Explore Borneo's lush rainforest in search of the wild Bornean orangutan and the endangered pygmy elephants.
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On this 3 day trip, you will get the chance to meet the Iban, the once ferocious head hunters of Borneo!
Get a taste of working with orangutans before being immersed in tribal life in 2 national parks!
