53 orangutans have been pulled from Borneo's fires — and many are already back in the forest

Forest and peat fires have burned across Indonesian Borneo since August, stripping the food trees that critically endangered orangutans depend on. Answering call after call, the rescue charity YIARI — 18 years into its primate work, partnered with International Animal Rescue — has brought 53 orangutans to safety, including stranded animals and mothers with infants found in critical condition. Many survivors have already been rewilded into protected forests such as Gunung Palung National Park, five hours away; the rest are under veterinary care at a rescue centre that is now full. Among the youngest is Irene, found stressed and painfully thin — 'She may have gone for days without finding any food in this devastated forest,' said wildlife veterinarian Dr Karmele Llano Sanchez, YIARI's CEO, photographed cradling her. The teams are still patrolling, still answering calls, waiting on delayed rains — and 53 orangutans are alive because they didn't stop.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: institutional program