Ensnared female orangutan and her baby rescued in Indonesia

Indonesian conservationists saved an orangutan and her infant from a suspected wild boar trap on the island of Borneo, according to an official. The mother orangutan, named Gadis, was around 25 years old, while her son Garis was just ten months old. Both were found entangled in ropes, with Gadis's injuries being particularly severe as the ropes had cut deep into her skin.

The conservation worker, Muriansyah, suggested the ropes were likely set up as part of a boar snare trap, which are legal in certain areas of Indonesia but illegal within protected forests or national parks. Gadis and Garis are now receiving medical care at the Orangutan Foundation International clinic near the village of Pangkalan Bun.

Although wild boar hunting using rope snares is permitted in some regions to control pests, it is prohibited in designated wildlife areas. Conservationists have warned that careless placing of snares near wildlife zones could instead ensnare endangered sun bears or orangutans. In recent weeks, dozens of orangutans have been rescued from the devastating wildfires engulfing Indonesia, which have produced a hazardous haze across Southeast Asia.

Two additional orangutans were released in Ketapang, West Kalimantan on Saturday after being rescued from an oil palm plantation. Orangutans are critically endangered, with only approximately 120,000 left in the wild on Borneo and Sumatra, a population that has halved over the past century. According to the conservation organization WWF, fires are currently raging in habitats that contain 52 percent of Borneo's orangutan population.