Rare orangutans survive fires, and then stoning

By Sarah Harvey

An orangutan looks on in a cage at Kao Pratubchang Conservation Centre in Ratchaburi, Thailand.
REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
An orangutan looks on in a cage at Kao Pratubchang Conservation Centre in Ratchaburi, Thailand. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

A Borneo orangutan and her baby have been rescued from an attack by villagers in Indonesia as scores of the rare animals escape rampant wildfires.

According to the BBC the malnourished mother and her youngster were found traumatised and hugging one another when they were saved by International Animal Rescue.

Frightened locals reportedly hurled rocks at them and tried to tie them up. Rescuers say the mother, who was extremely thin, had sustained wounds to the skin.

PHOTO: AFP
PHOTO: AFP

 

Primates escaping forest fires in Indonesia, caused by the clearing of land for crops such as oil palms, often head to villages in search of food but are viewed by locals as pests.

Many apes have been forced to flee their forest homes to escape thousands of forest fires that have engulfed the country this year.

Orangutans walk as haze shrouds Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation camp in Nyaru Menteng, Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province. REUTERS/Rosa Panggabean/Antara Foto
Orangutans walk as haze shrouds Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation camp in Nyaru Menteng, Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province. REUTERS/Rosa Panggabean/Antara Foto.

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