Recent News

Woolworths has reduced the use of palm oil in its Select range food products and has committed to working through the Homebrand range. However it admits to challenges in removing palm oil including performance attributes of alternatives, nutritional issues and increased costs.

It is now about to review its policy. Make sure Woolworths knows your opinion.

Volunteering in Borneo Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia has teamed up with ENRICH, an Australian volunteer program that focuses on animal welfare and enrichment. You now have the amazing opportunity to volunteer with orangutans and sun... View Article

In Australia BOS is always looking for people with all sorts of skills to be involved in our committee work, fund raising activities, website maintenance, education, public relations and marketing. BOS is only as strong as... View Article

Samboja Lodge Samboja Lodge is an eco-lodge located within Samboja Lestari and managed by BOS Foundation. Guests are able to stay at the Lodge and simply enjoy the forest or become involved as volunteers in conservation... View Article

Purchase of rainforest You can assist in the development of Samboja Lestari by making a symbolic purchase of rainforest. The cost to purchase 1 square metre is AU$10.00. From this sum of money the following costs... View Article

Rescue The team at Nyaru Menteng also operates a rescue service and has rescued over 300 wild orangutans. With the orangutan’s habitat being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, orangutans have insufficient food and have no... View Article

The Rehabilitation Process The method of reintroduction at Nyaru Menteng tries to imitate, as closely as possible, the life the orangutans would have had, were they still with their mothers in the forest. Quarantine All new... View Article

Loss of habitat The most important risk factor for orangutans is the loss of habitat. Suitable orangutan habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia has declined by more than 80% in the last 20 years. It is estimated... View Article

Illegal pet trade Wild orangutan numbers are also affected by the illegal pet trade – particularly the socially inclined baby. Estimates suggest that more than 1000 orangutans are smuggled into Java and overseas each year. Indeed, a recent... View Article

Timber products Some 70% of all timber exported from Indonesia is illegally logged. In Australia, it is estimated that 9% of wood imports or $400 million is from illegal sources. (Jaakko Poyry Consulting 2005: Overview of... View Article

Poaching Easier access and encroachment of people into the orangutan forests also leads to increased hunting of orangutans for meat, babies, skulls or, more recently for orangutan penises. As well as being consumed as bushmeat, body parts find... View Article

Diet The orangutan diet is made up of bark, leaves, flowers, a variety of insects, and most importantly, over 300 kinds of fruit.Termites and ants are part of their diet to obtain protein and for minerals... View Article

Behaviour The orangutan is the only strictly arboreal ape and the largest tree-living mammal in the world. Although other apes do climb and build sleeping nests in the trees, they are primarily terrestrial (spending their lives... View Article

Biology An orangutan’s lifespan is about 35-40 years in the wild, and sometimes into the 50’s in captivity. Orangutan females only give birth about once every eight years – the longest time between births of any... View Article

23 August 2009
Palm oil is a controversial component of everything from cosmetics to confectionery. Its use has been blamed on the destruction of tropical rainforest and habitat for the Sumatran tiger and orang-utan. Public discontent is growing. Just last week, Cadbury New Zealand announced it had shelved plans to use palm oil in its Dairy Milk chocolate. But oil is not the only product that comes from palm.