Orangutans

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation

The U.K. branch of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is recognised by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. (Registration Number: 1099591).

The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is the largest primate rescue project in the world, with nearly 1000 orangutans in its care. BOS is the only organisation actively rescuing wild orangutans from oil-palm plantations, as well as rehabilitating orphaned orangutans, displaced as a result of the relentless devastation of their habitat to clear land for palm oil production.  BOS is committed to protecting the orangutan and its rainforest habitat, and relies entirely on donations to achieve this.

Why does the orangutan need our help? Orangutans are one of the most critically endangered of the great apes, due to poaching and habitat loss. Based on the World Bank's estimation that mechanized logging in the Kalimantan forest, (Indonesian Borneo), will result in its total loss by 2010, and other statistics stating that wild orangutans are disappearing at a rate of 5,000 orangutans per year, optimistic predictions give the orangutan ten more years before extinction in the wild.

A crisis exists for the orangutan

Never before has its very existence been threatened so severely. Economic crisis combined with natural disasters and human abuse of the forest are pushing our closest cousins to extinction. They have lost approximately 80% of their habitat in the last 20 years. We lost approximately 1/3 of the wild population of orangutans during the fires of ‘97-'98. There are approximately 40,000 to 50,000 orangutans remaining in Borneo (compared to about 60,000 in 1996) and approximately 4,000 to 6,000 left in Sumatra (compared to about 10,000 in 1996).

The threats to the survival of the orangutan are numerous and difficult to remedy.

These include:

• Loss of Habitat
• Poaching
• The illegal pet/zoo trade

To find out more and to see how you can help click here