Eight orangutans are living freely in Borneo again. On Friday, rescue workers released the animals into a protected forest reserve on the west side of the island. The group includes three mothers, their three daughters, and two adult males.
The animals lost their homes during severe summer wildfires. Fires burned the trees and destroyed their food, forcing them closer to humans. Before their rescue, one mother named Mama Nopi survived on a coconut and rubber farm with her three young offspring. In total, wildlife workers rescued 46 orangutans from the fires in August and September.
Rescue officials explained that this year's fires were stronger because of the El Niño weather pattern. The rescue team said moving the eight apes to the protected reserve was necessary because their old forests were no longer safe.
Orangutans are critically endangered, which means they are at serious risk of disappearing. Today, only about 104,000 orangutans remain in Borneo and Sumatra, down from more than 230,000 a century ago. For these eight animals, the protected forest gives them a safe home in the wild.