Ensnared female orangutan and her baby rescued in Indonesia

Indonesian conservation workers successfully rescued a trapped female orangutan and her baby in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The orangutan, named Gadis, aged approximately 25, and her son, Garis, who was 10 months old, were found entangled in rope near a village on the island of Borneo. Gadis had been injured by the ropes, which had penetrated her flesh deeply.

Local conservation official Muriansyah stated that the ropes appeared to have been set up as a wild boar snare trap, which is legal in some areas of Indonesia but illegal within protected forests or national parks. Both Gadis and Garis were receiving treatment at the Orangutan Foundation International clinic in Pangkalan Bun. Wild boar hunting using rope snares is a common pest control measure, but careless placement near wildlife areas can trap endangered species.

Recently, dozens of orangutans have been rescued from wildfires across Indonesia, which have produced a toxic haze across the Southeast Asian region. Orangutans are critically endangered, with only around 120,000 remaining in the wild on Borneo and Sumatra.