Waang Laas is back in his forest home

This January the BOS Foundation and RHOI was fortunate enough to be able to yet again save another orangutan from being harmed and translocate him to a safe area of forest.

On January 3rd 2015, a collaborative team from the BOS Foundation and Restorasi Habitat Orangutan Indonesia (RHOI) (Tyo, Vet. Dermawan Saputra, Angga F, Arif, Imam, Agus and Musa) succeeded in rescuing and translocating a young male orangutan from the Nehas Liah Bing Village in Muara Wahau Subdistrict, East Kalimantan where the local community had spotted a young male orangutan damaging their crops and thankfully reported this to the authorities.

It took a full week of thorough searching of the indigeneous forest in the area to find him and 2.5 hours to rescue him. He seemed to be healthy, but little underweight and suffering from slight malnutrition.

A village elder of Nehas Liah Bing, Ledjie Taq named the orangutan Waang Laas after one of their ancestors.

Waang Laas

After being  sedated by our Vet, Dermawan Saputra, Waang Laas was taken to the Wehea indigeneous forest.

Waang being tranquilized by Vet Dermawan Saputra
In a symbolic gesture a representative of the village, Ledjie Ding opened Waang’s cage

The moment the cage was opened, Waang Laas went straight towards a tree, climb up and built a nest.

Today, Waang Laas is back in his forest home forest living the free life he deserves.

The BOSF – RHOI rescue team

Text by: Eko Prasetyo, the BOS Foundation’s Best Management Practices (BMP) for Orangutan Conservation

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Orangutans are endangered and at risk of extinction. Habitat destruction results in hundreds of orphaned orangutans, who rely on our care every year. You can help by adopting one. Their dedicated ‘nannies’ teach them everything they need to know for when it’s time to release them back to the wild. You can follow their progress through Forest School.

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