The Orangutan Project Looks to U.S. Donors to Help Save Victims of Borneo Deforestation Crisis

Leading organization dedicated to saving the orangutan raising funds to save critically endangered Bornean orangutans

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Feb 28, 2019, 10:40 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orangutan Project (TOP), a non-partisan organization dedicated to orangutan conservation and welfare, is seeking donations for the month of March to help the Centre for Orangutan Protection, a key partner in Kalimantan, Indonesia, protect Borneo's displaced orangutans, provide the rehabilitation and care they desperately need, and to urgently safeguard and protect their remaining forest.

Berani, a male Borneo orangutan, was malnourished, dehydrated and found cramped in a small, dark crate (left); he was rescued by The Orangutan Project partners at Centre for Orangutan Protection from a Kalimantan village in October 2018, and was sent directly to the COP Borneo Rescue Centre, where he received urgent medical care and is now attending forest school rehabilitation to prepare him for eventual release into protected habitat (right).

Kalimantan is facing a deforestation crisis and serious habitat loss is displacing critically endangered Bornean orangutans, leaving them vulnerable to starvation and the illegal wildlife trade. According to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 50 percent of Kalimantan's lowland rainforest, which once covered all of the island, is now gone. Without the protection of the forest, poachers are able to readily access orangutans, and will usually kill the mother to steal the baby for the pet wildlife trade.

"The Centre for Orangutan Protection is doing everything they can to stop illegal deforestation and ramp up rapid orangutan response rescues, but without your help, they can only do so much," said Leif Cocks, orangutan expert and founder of The Orangutan Project. "The number of displaced, captive and orphaned orangutans is rising, which means the organization desperately needs funding to safeguard and protect the remaining forest. We're calling on those in the U.S. who are passionate about helping these amazing animals and their habitat to donate. Your donation will be directed straight to East Kalimantan, and those who donate will actually help out two fold, as donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $36,000, thanks to the generosity of one of our anonymous donors."

Those interested in helping protect Borneo's orangutans and forest habitat can donate here.

Since its formation in 1998, The Orangutan Project has contributed more than $10 million directly into orangutan conservation projects. Every dollar raised for TOP goes toward saving orangutans. The organization has earned a reputation among its partners and donors for being financially responsible and transparent.

For more about TOP, visit https://www.theorangutanproject.org/.

About The Orangutan Project
The Orangutan Project is a non-partisan organization that collaborates with several orangutan conservation projects on the ground in Indonesia to support the conservation and rehabilitation of orangutans and the preservation of their forest habitat. Founded by world-renowned orangutan expert Leif Cocks, The Orangutan Project's goal is to ensure the survival of the orangutan species in their natural habitat. For more information, visit https://www.theorangutanproject.org/.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Orange Orchard
865-977-1973
[email protected]

SOURCE The Orangutan Project