Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Shila’s journey was just beginning. Become a Friend at the LINK IN CHANNEL BIO!
In June 2017, BKSDA West Kalimantan released her into Bukit Baka Bukit Raya with support from our partners, YIARI. She slipped back into the canopy like she knew the way home. Thanks to monthly gifts, our partners YIARI could keep doing the hard work around her release and beyond, rehabilitating, rescuing, returning orangutans to the wild, and tracking those first steps of freedom.
In 2020, YIARI’s post-release monitoring team found Shila with a newborn son, Surya. A rehabilitated orangutan, now raising her baby in the wild.
By December 2025, we saw them again. Surya was bigger and bolder, racing through the canopy, testing branches, and choosing his own routes and foods with real confidence. Clear proof that rehabilitated orangutans can pass essential forest skills to their young.
We’re aiming for 600 new Friends this year so our partners YIARI can rehabilitate, rescue, and return more orangutans to the wild, and keep teams in the field to protect moments like these.
Help repopulate Bornean orangutans. Become a Friend of IAR from $4 a month.
Shila’s journey was just beginning. Become a Friend at the LINK IN CHANNEL BIO!
In June 2017, BKSDA West Kalimantan released her into Bukit Baka Bukit Raya with support from our partners, YIARI. She slipped back into the canopy like she knew the way home. Thanks to monthly gifts, our partners YIARI could keep doing the hard work around her release and beyond, rehabilitating, rescuing, returning orangutans to the wild, and tracking those first steps of freedom.
In 2020, YIARI’s post-release monitoring team found Shila with a newborn son, Surya. A rehabilitated orangutan, now raising her baby in the wild.
By December 2025, we saw them again. Surya was bigger and bolder, racing through the canopy, testing branches, and choosing his own routes and foods with real confidence. Clear proof that rehabilitated orangutans can pass essential forest skills to their young.
We’re aiming for 600 new Friends this year so our partners YIARI can rehabilitate, rescue, and return more orangutans to the wild, and keep teams in the field to protect moments like these.
Help repopulate Bornean orangutans. Become a Friend of IAR from $4 a month.
