Category

Orangutan

How one devastating cyclone wiped out seven percent of the planet’s rarest great apes Orangutan

How one devastating cyclone wiped out seven percent of the planet’s rarest great apes

A Tapanuli orangutan in Batang Toru, North Sumatra. These critically endangered animals are threatened by climate change-fueled extreme weather. Orangutan Information Centre A cyclone that brought catastrophic flooding and devastating landslides to Indonesia wiped out more than 7% of the global population of the world’s rarest great apes, a new…
bubmag
June 17, 2026
World’s rarest great ape decimated by 4 days of extreme rain, with 7% of population lost to cyclone Orangutan

World’s rarest great ape decimated by 4 days of extreme rain, with 7% of population lost to cyclone

767 individuals made up the entire species of Tapanuli orangutans in 2019, according to an estimate. (Image credit: Nature Picture Library via Alamy) A single climate-change-fueled cyclone killed 7% of Tapanuli orangutans ‪—‬ the world's rarest great apes ‪—‬ in just four days last year, new research reveals. The study…
bubmag
June 12, 2026
Camera trap shows Sumatra orangutan using a canopy bridge to cross a public road in Indonesia Orangutan

Camera trap shows Sumatra orangutan using a canopy bridge to cross a public road in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday. Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people…
bubmag
April 27, 2026
See an orangutan, take a photo, earn some money: A viable conservation model? Orangutan

See an orangutan, take a photo, earn some money: A viable conservation model?

KehatiKu, a conservation program in Indonesian Borneo, pays citizen observers to document wildlife sightings and upload them via an app. Payments vary by species, with the highest rate, around $6, paid for verified orangutan sightings. Dedicated observers can make more than they would be paid at a full-time job. By…
bubmag
April 16, 2026
Indonesia’s orangutan trafficking cases reveal need for a change in approach (commentary) Orangutan

Indonesia’s orangutan trafficking cases reveal need for a change in approach (commentary)

For months, four infant orangutans lived in limbo in Thailand — not as pets, but as evidence. Confiscated in two separate trafficking cases, they were cared for at the Khao Pratubchang Wildlife Rescue Centre while investigators built their files. On Dec. 23, 2025, the babies finally came home: three Sumatran…
bubmag
March 12, 2026
Indonesia Revokes Permit for Chinese-Built Dam Threatening Ape Species Orangutan

Indonesia Revokes Permit for Chinese-Built Dam Threatening Ape Species

The Indonesian government said it has revoked the licenses of 28 companies for violating forestry regulations in provinces hit by devastating flooding in November. A rare equatorial cyclone, which caused widespread landslides across northern Sumatra, killed some 1,200 people and decimated the population of a critically endangered orangutan that was…
bubmag
January 23, 2026
Three Bornean Orangutans Released Orangutan

Three Bornean Orangutans Released

Inter-Agency Collaboration Enables the Release of Three Orangutans in Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park , West Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia 16 January 2026 — The West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA West Kalimantan), the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park Authority (BTNBBBR), and Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI)…
bubmag
January 15, 2026
Orangutans rescued from the wildlife trade undergo intensive re-training to return to the wild Orangutan

Orangutans rescued from the wildlife trade undergo intensive re-training to return to the wild

NORTHERN SUMATRA, Indonesia. Welcome to jungle school—where orphaned orangutans are learning the basics for survival that they will need for life in the wild. At the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) in Northern Sumatra, vets and biologists are rehabilitating orangutans who have been confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade...Read More
bubmag
December 17, 2025