Dozens of orangutans saved from Indonesia blazes

JAKARTA

Members of the BKSDA (Natural Resources Conservation Agency), the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia evacuate a 20-year-old orangutan due to forest and land fire, in Hampangen Village, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan, on October 17, 2026. (AFP Photo)

Dozens of critically endangered orangutans have been rescued in recent weeks from rampant wildfires burning across Indonesia that have cloaked the region in toxic haze, conservation groups said.

The fires have triggered a months-long pollution spell that has closed schools, fueled a surge in respiratory conditions both among humans and animals, and restricted outdoor activities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor.

Pollution levels again ranged from unhealthy to very unhealthy across the region on Oct. 18, cloaking many areas across southern Southeast Asia in toxic haze.

Swiss-based air quality monitor IQAir again ranked Singapore and Kuala Lumpur among the world’s top 10 most polluted major cities on Oct. 18.

Fires on Borneo and Sumatra Islands, intensified by a turbo-charged El Nino weather phenomenon, continued to emit smoke.

In Indonesia, groups are working to save wildlife from the fires, including orangutans.

On Oct. 17, the West Kalimantan conservation agency and Indonesian non-profit YIARI said a team evacuated 51 orangutans from locations in the province from Aug. 6 to Oct. 17.

And figures from Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry suggested this week that the number rescued over recent months in Kalimantan could be as high as 96.

On Oct. 17 three conservation agencies saved a 20-year-old male orangutan in Hampangen village in Central Kalimantan on Borneo Island.

“The evacuation process was carried out with great caution,” the agencies said.