Reintroduction center trains Sumatran orangutans for wild life

Conservationists at the Jantho Orangutan Reintroduction Center in Aceh Besar, Indonesia, are preparing Sumatran orangutans for life in the wild.

Hafid, the manager of the center, oversees a process where animals that were previously kept as pets or in captivity learn to survive independently. The program aims to teach the orangutans how to find their own food, navigate between trees, and build their own sleeping nests.

The center uses a soft release method to help the animals adapt to their environment before they live fully on their own. This approach is necessary because orangutans that spend too much time around humans often struggle to survive in the forest. For example, a male orangutan named Bombom, who was rescued in 2019, moved to the center in mid-2026 after undergoing rehabilitation in North Sumatra.

Staff members monitor the progress of the animals to ensure they can survive without human assistance. The team observes that some orangutans still return to the station or follow workers to get fruit. These behaviors indicate that the animals still require further training to overcome their previous experiences with humans before they can be successfully released into the forest.