Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
There are moments in this work that stay with you.
While walking through Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park, Karmele Llano Sánchez, CEO of our partners, YIARI, looked up into the canopy and spotted one of the orangutans released through the program with her beautiful wild-born baby, Tegar.
She was high above the monitoring team with little Tegar beside her, both peering down through the branches. It was one of those moments that made everyone stop.
After everything that goes into helping an orangutan return to the wild, seeing a mother there with a baby born free is incredibly special. It is the kind of moment that reminds you what all those years of rescue, rehabilitation, monitoring and work with local communities are ultimately for.
There have now been 10 wild births to mothers released through the program. Every one of them represents something we all want to see much more of: orangutans living their lives in the forest, raising the next generation in the wild.
It feels especially meaningful to share this on International Orangutan Day, and at a time when fires are once again threatening forests across Kalimantan.
There is still so much work ahead, but for a moment, everyone could simply stand beneath the trees and watch Tegar and his mother above them.
This is what YIARI are working towards.
Happy International Orangutan Day!
There are moments in this work that stay with you.
While walking through Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park, Karmele Llano Sánchez, CEO of our partners, YIARI, looked up into the canopy and spotted one of the orangutans released through the program with her beautiful wild-born baby, Tegar.
She was high above the monitoring team with little Tegar beside her, both peering down through the branches. It was one of those moments that made everyone stop.
After everything that goes into helping an orangutan return to the wild, seeing a mother there with a baby born free is incredibly special. It is the kind of moment that reminds you what all those years of rescue, rehabilitation, monitoring and work with local communities are ultimately for.
There have now been 10 wild births to mothers released through the program. Every one of them represents something we all want to see much more of: orangutans living their lives in the forest, raising the next generation in the wild.
It feels especially meaningful to share this on International Orangutan Day, and at a time when fires are once again threatening forests across Kalimantan.
There is still so much work ahead, but for a moment, everyone could simply stand beneath the trees and watch Tegar and his mother above them.
This is what YIARI are working towards.
Happy International Orangutan Day!
