Wildfires threaten Indonesia’s orangutans as rescuers find injured animals

Wildfires across Indonesia's Borneo and Sumatra have burned hundreds of thousands of hectares this year, driving injured and stranded orangutans into rescue centers. A young female named Novita was found with burned hands and feet after crossing scorched ground to reach a tree; she is being treated and may eventually be released if she can still climb.

Not every rescue ends well. A male orangutan named Sampurna was found struggling to breathe on a palm oil plantation and died hours after rescue. Indonesia's Forestry Ministry says more than 270 wild animals have been rescued or relocated in Kalimantan so far.

Government figures put burned land at over 202,000 hectares between January and July, while an independent satellite monitoring project estimated nearly 896,000 hectares burned by the end of August — more than four times the official count. The resulting haze has triggered health emergencies as far as Malaysia and the Philippines.

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