JAKARTA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- An endangered orangutan, which has moved far away from its deep-forest habitat, has been rescued and relocated to the forest by conservationist and animal rescuers in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province.
The personnel of the Indonesian Natural Resources Conservation Agency in West Kalimantan province and the International Animal Rescue Indonesia have retrieved the male adult orangutan (pongo pygmaeus) in a resident's farmland in Sungai Pelang village of the province's district of Ketapang, head of the International Animal Rescue Indonesia Program Argitoe Ranting said on Thursday.
"The rescue was undertaken because the location of the resident's farmland is very far away from its habitat in a deep forest," Ranting said.
The animal was in a good health condition when it was found and did not need medical treatment, he said.
Ranting said relocation is only a temporary solution for the survival of the intelligent primate, as the problems threatening the survival of orangutans in Kalimantan Island were not solved.
He said deforestation and conversion of the function of forests have threatened the survival of the orangutans' habitat, adding that the threat on the population of the mammals had been emboldened by the big forest fires in Ketapang district in the past.
"These forced many orangutans to leave the destroyed habitat... and come to the residents' farmlands to look for foods. This has triggered conflicts with humans," he was quoted by local media as saying.
Orangutans are native to Indonesia and Malaysia. In Indonesia they live in rainforests of Kalimantan and Sumatra islands.
Human activities, such as poaching, habitat destruction and illegal pet trades, have resulted in severe declines in the population of orangutans. Enditem
