A conservation group in Indonesia says it wants to create a 5-hectare « forest island » for the world’s only known albino orangutan after rescuing it from villagers earlier this year.
Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation says Wednesday that the 5-year-old orangutan, which it named Alba, can’t be safely returned to the wild because of health issues related to her albinism.
Spokesman Nico Hermanu said the foundation is starting a public appeal to raise $80,000 needed to buy land in central Kalimantan for the special reserve.
The foundation says the land, which would be surrounded by a moat, would allow Alba to « live freely in natural habitat, but protected from threats posed by humans. »
Orangutans, only found in the wild on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, are critically endangered.
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