from the Jakarta Globe
A rescue team consisting of activists and provincial conservation officers evacuated a Sumatran orangutan baby from an Army post in East Aceh on Sunday.
As reported by environmental news website Mongabay Indonesia, the one-year-old orangutan female was found badly malnourished with several wounds on her body, possibly caused by a blunt object used to paralyze the animal.
After giving her food and vitamins, the rescue team will send the orangutan to the Batu Mbelin Quarantine Center in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, for medical treatment due to her critical condition, said Panut Hadisiswoyo, director of the Sumatra Lestari Orangutan Foundation-Orangutan Information Center, as quoted by Mongabay.
The website also reported that Abu, a resident of Simpang Jernih district, kept the orangutan baby on his estate for a year after claiming that she had been abandoned by her mother. He later left the youngster at the Army post.
“It’s impossible for orangutan mothers to leave their babies,” said Krisna, a representative of the Orangutan Information Center, as quoted by Mongabay.
Orangutans are easily captured and hunted in the Mount Leuser National Park due to massive deforestation, stranding orangutans in ever shrinking habitats, limiting their movements and making them vulnerable to hunters.
This excerpt from a news article appeared in and is courtesy of the Jakarta Globe and can be read in its entirety here.
The Orangutan Conservancy is pleased to be able to help support the work of the Orangutan Information Center in Sumatra.
