International Animal Rescue’s team in Indonesia has released dramatic footage showing the rescue of four starving orangutans from an oil palm concession in Borneo after their forest homes were bulldozed

The footage shows the IAR team and members of the local forestry department capturing the starving orangutans for translocation to areas where there is sufficient food for their survival.

All of the apes had gone through long periods of starvation and were weak from hunger, as the company had cleared the forest around them, reducing them to eating bark and stems.

The video shows three rescues: the first of a lactating female whose baby could not be found, the second a pregnant female, and a mother and baby. All were successfully translocated.

One of the orangutans had lost her baby, probably killed before the rescue team arrived.

The palm oil concession is operated by BGA subsidiary PT Ladang Sawit Mas (LSM) in a forest buffer next to Gunung Palung National Park, an area that hosts a large population of Central Bornean Orangutans.

IAR Chief Executive Alan Knigh noted that on a positive note, on this occasion, rather than chasing the apes away or killing them, the palm oil company contacted IAR so they could be moved to a place of safety.

IAR is now urging the company to halt any further land clearing because it is believed that there are other orangutans trapped inside the concession that will die if they are not relocated.

IAR’s Indonesia team has saved more than 60 orangutans. The majority are currently undergoing rehabilitation in the agency’s new centre in Sungai Awan, Ketapang, with a view to eventually being returned to protected areas of forest.

Source: Wildlife Extra.