Guest guest Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 PRESS RELEASE 03 January 2004 Central Kalimantan Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation Plans to Release Orangutans to Wild Six lucky orangutans will soon have a new home in the rainforests of Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). The BOS Foundation has been busy with a team of experts and other staff surveying and preparing the release site in the Kapuas region near the Mawas Reserve. The release is planned for 24 January and final preparations are being made. The six orangutans will be transferred from the Kaja Island Release site near Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project, where they have been honing their forest survival skills with a larger group of ex-captive orangutans. This will make room on the island for more of the Project's orangutans from the centre's halfway house and socialisation cages. The centre now cares for 231 orangutans, including 74 infants under 3 years of age. This year alone saw 81 new arrivals. Space is at a premium. As with Kaja Island, the released orangutans will be monitored by an in situ team and provided with food as needed, though it is expected they will find just what they need from the richly diverse forest in which competition is minimal. They will, for all practical purposes, be able to live as a wild animal, after what has been a long journey to freedom. The orangutans at the centre are often rescued from desperate captive situations, victims of the illegal trade in wildlife. Others have been captured as they searched for food in logging camps or oil palm plantations which are taking over their natural habitat. With the attentive care and help of local staff at the Project, these orangutans learn the skills necessary for survival in the forest, before being given a second chance. The BOS Foundation operates the largest primate reintroduction project in the world and has released hundreds of orangutans back to the wild. They also manage over a half million hectares of rainforest land in Borneo, with the hope of saving the orangutan from what many experts fear is inevitable extinction in the wild within a decade. Further information of BOS activities can be found at its websites: USA: http://www.orangutan.com UK: www.savetheorangutan.org.uk INT'L: www.savetheorangutan.info with links to all the other BOS Foundation sites. Messenger - Communicate instantly... " Ping " your friends today! Download Messenger Now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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