ADOPTION – SO MUCH MORE THAN A MONTHLY GIFT
When you adopt an orangutan through our program, you sponsor not just your chosen orangutan. Instead, you become a true conservation champion by helping us reach our ultimate goal: Freedom for each eligible orangutan in our care.
There are many ways to support our work, and we are grateful for even the smallest contribution. However, we are incredibly excited when someone starts sponsoring one of the orphaned orangutans in our adoption program. There are currently five: Jeni, Monyo, Jelapat, Topan and Taymur.
Their stories represent the fates of the many other orphans who made it safely into BOS Foundation’s rehabilitation centres for a second chance in life. We witness or hear of orangutan mothers being killed in human-wildlife conflicts and orangutan babies being kept illegally as pets or sold as profit-promising‘ performers’ to shady entertainment businesses.
Monyo was found abandoned beside a river at only six months old
Jeni and Monyo are the youngest babies currently in our adoption program. Upon her arrival at BOS Foundation’s Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in August 2020, tiny one-year-old Jeni weighed only five kilograms. She had wounds on one of her legs and was in shock. It was evident that Jeni had experienced a traumatising time in captivity after being separated from her mother.
Monyo was rescued from a local villager in late 2019. The man claimed to have found him abandoned beside a river at only six months old. Unfortunately, we will never know the full extent of Monyo’s story. We can only assume that his mother was killed or severely injured, as healthy orangutan mothers do not willingly separate from their babies.
It can take more than seven years for rescued orangutans like Jeni or Monyo to progress through all stages of Forest School. Even though both are now physically healed and thriving in school, they still have much more to learn before they can live on their own in the wild. At this part of the rehabilitation process, our adoption program can make all the difference.
Sponsors become part of the journey
So why are we thrilled when someone adopts Jeni or Monyo? First and foremost, our adoption program allows each sponsor to be directly involved in their orangutan’s long and challenging journey to freedom. But it goes much further.
As you can imagine, given its length and complexity, each orangutan’s rehabilitation process requires a lot of money. Currently, the BOS Foundation has over 400 orangutans who need daily care, including food, veterinary attention, transportation when moving to pre-release islands and release sites, also permanent sanctuary care for the unreleasable orangutans.
“The adoption program is one way to attract supporters to learn about orangutan conservation and to ease the financial burden on us that we face running the entire rehabilitation process. Not only for it to support the specific orangutans who are up for adoption, but also all the orangutans under our care”, says Lalita Tri Adila, who coordinates the orangutan adoption program at BOS Foundation’s headquarters in Indonesia. “For a small monthly sum, you can make a real difference and help our orphaned orangutans survive and thrive.”
Besides other items, your adoption pack will include a certificate personalised with your name
And that is not all: Besides being a source of funding and extended financial security due to the long-term nature of the adoption program, it is also a way to spread awareness and educate people around the world about the importance of orangutan and habitat conservation.
That’s why we are so excited about each adopter, because with every new sponsor, the program grows and gives Jeni, Monyo and all the other orangutans in our care a chance to live the free and safe life they deserve.
