(13 Jan 2016) LEAD-IN:
Indonesian conservationists have started an ambitious mission to rescue orangutans struggling after fires devastated their forest homes.
Orangutans are already facing a shrinking habitat due to illegal logging and poaching.
Rescue teams are moving the animals to a new site, where they'll stand a better chance of survival.
STORY-LINE:
Charred trees - blackened by fire - marr the skyline along the banks of the Mangkutub River in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The forest here is home the world's largest arboreal mammal - the orangutan.
Known as the Man of the Forest, the great apes are already endangered by illegal logging and poaching.
Now forest fires have devastated their home.
A joint team from the Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival) Foundation are on a mission to rescue as many wild orangutans as possible that are trapped along the banks of the Mangkutub River.
"Forest areas along the Mangkutub River have been destroyed as a result of recent forest fires making it difficult for orangutans to find food and this is very dangerous for them," explains Ahmad Sayoko, the coordinator of the rescue and release mission.
The team is made up of foresters, technicians and vets. They have driven three hours through burnt forest before transferring onto boats in the search of orangutans.
According to Sayoko, there are around 30 wild orangutans estimated to be trying to survive here. Forced out of their habitat by the forest fires, it is feared that they will move closer to nearby human settlements which could lead to conflict with humans.
An ape is spotted and the team head deep into the forest, tranquilliser gun at the ready.
Getting the orangutans safely down from the tree while they are partially sedated is a delicate process. The team clear an area so the animal will not fall onto sharp branches and get ready to catch if they need to.
Once safely on the ground, head vet Marios Tanggang checks the orangutan's temperature and heart rate. The teeth are checked to determine its age, blood samples are taken and a monitoring chip inserted into its body.
The animal is then carefully carried back to the boat and put in a temporary cage where it will stay for 6 hours until it is released 80 kms (50 miles) away in the forest around Mantangai and Bagantung.
"Some of the orangutans we found have been affected by cataracts, the eyes narrowed and are not working anymore. We also found some orangutan's eyeballs ruptured by shots from a rifle (from hunters)," says Tanggang.
The team bring another orangutan back to the boats - this one suffering from malnourishmentt. Almost all the food orangutans eat grows in the now burnt out tree tops.
A third ape is rescued and the team prepare to start the long boat trip to the apes' new home. The new areas in Mantangai and Bagantung are deemed to be more suitable in terms of adequate natural food sources and security from illegal loggers.
Sayoko says they are aiming to rescue two to three apes a day over ten days.
The rescue mission is a continuation of one which started in early December 2015 when the team managed to relocate 39 orangutans from a critical area in Mangkutub to forest areas close to the Mantangai River in Bagantung.
But Sayoko says the team will not manage to rescue all of the apes in the area.
"The obstacle is the distance to the remote location of the release and transport limitations, so we cannot rescue all the orangutans because we can transport only a few orangutans to be released in one go."
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