The Orangutan Project launches new rescue alliance to fight illegal wildlife trade

NEW YORK, May 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orangutan Project, an organization focused on securing the survival of orangutans and other critically endangered species, has joined the Orangutan Information Centre and the Centre for Orangutan Protection to launch the Sumatran Rescue Alliance, an ongoing initiative that will support the immediate repatriation of orangutans confiscated from the global wildlife trade, as well as support for the rescue and rehabilitation of other orangutans in desperate need.

"The Sumatran Rescue Alliance has been launched to help authorities fight back against the illegal trade of critically endangered orangutans," said Leif Cocks, president and founder of The Orangutan Project. "We know these multi-billion dollar crime networks will be seriously impacted as soon as their buyers see Indonesia now has the means to confiscate illegally held orangutans no matter where they are in the world."

For several decades, illegal poaching syndicates have been smuggling critically endangered orangutans out of Indonesia for wealthy international buyers. Once out of Indonesia, it has been extremely difficult for authorities to locate, confiscate and repatriate these stolen orangutans.

The Alliance has secured 100 hectares of land in north Sumatra for a rescue and rehabilitation center for confiscated orangutans that will be established as soon as lockdown restrictions are eased across Indonesia. The center, initiated in response to requests from local officials, will allow authorities to ramp up efforts to confiscate and repatriate smuggled orangutans and provide them with genuine rehabilitation. The center will also provide rehabilitation for Sumatran orangutans that have been confiscated from illegal networks and have a strong chance to survive on being returned to the wild.

Two orangutans have already been repatriated to Indonesia, and there are many others urgently waiting to be transferred from Malaysia, Thailand and across Indonesia. 

Most of the rehabilitated orangutans will graduate to a release program in the protected Bukit Tigapuluh Ecosystem, where they will eventually join what is now the most successful colony of rehabilitated Sumatran orangutans in the world, helping to secure the survival of their species. The center will also include a permanent rainforest home for any orangutans who can't return to the wild.

"All orangutans are highly sentient and deep-thinking and deserve to be wild and free," Cocks said. "But this is much more than an ideology. If we are to secure their future survival, we urgently need every stolen orangutan to be able to contribute to the genetic viability of their species. We are down to almost unsustainable populations and every critically endangered orangutan counts."

The Sumatran Rescue Alliance has a goal to raise $160,000 to build the rescue center and operate it for the first year. Donors who contribute $500 or more will be recognized as founding donors and will have their names included on a plaque at the center.

All donations to the Sumatran Rescue Alliance and The Orangutan Project are tax-deductible. Visit https://www.theorangutanproject.org for information.

About The Orangutan Project
The Orangutan Project is a non-partisan organization that collaborates with several orangutan conservation projects on the ground in Indonesia to support the conservation and rehabilitation of orangutans and the preservation of their forest habitat.  Founded by world-renowned orangutan expert Leif Cocks, The Orangutan Project's goal is to ensure the survival of the orangutan species in their natural habitat. For more information, visit https://www.theorangutanproject.org 

MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Orange Orchard
(865) 977-1973
[email protected]

SOURCE The Orangutan Project

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https://www.theorangutanproject.org