Orangutans rescued from Indonesia fires

Palangkaraya (Indonesia), Oct. 10:  The orangutan clings to the top of a mostly leafless tree in Indonesia's Borneo, as waves of thick smoke from the forest fires burning below waft over her. Nicknamed Novita, the ape shown in footage released by a conservation group is among dozens that have been rescued from wildfires burning across parts of Sumatra and Borneo in recent months.

They include Bara, a male orangutan plucked from the haze on Thursday, authorities told AFP. "He was found on top of a tree on razed land. The haze was quite thick in the area because fires were burning around there," Handi Nasoka, a local natural resources conservation agency official, said of Bara on Friday. "Seeing the condition of the recently burned lands... we didn't dare to gamble and assume he'll survive."

Bara was "relatively healthy, with minor burn injuries," Handi added, and will be moved to a nature reserve elsewhere in the Central Kalimantan region where he was rescued. Wildfires have piled pressure on already endangered orangutans, forcing local groups and authorities to carry out high-stakes rescues of animals suffering smoke inhalation and burns.