Rescued Albino Orangutan Needs a Forest on Her Own – Help Make it Happen!

Remember beautiful Alba? Earlier this year, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS), an Indonesian non-profit organization dedicated to conserving the Bornean orangutan and its habitat, rescued Alba after learning she was held captive by local residents for two days. Alba has been in the care of the BOS staff ever since and she is unlike any other orangutan: she is albino.

Alba is the only known albino orangutan in the world and due to her unique traits and associated risks to her survival in the wild, BOS has determined she needs a special place to live. 

Because of her contrasting color and the health-related risks of albinism, she is suspectible to poor sight and hearing as well as skin cancer complications, BOS is determined to build Alba her very own island forest to ensure she has a fulfilling life. 

BOS plans to make the island a minimum of 5 hectares (roughly 12.4 acres) where Alba will live with three other orangutans who have already been introduced to Alba and they have already bonded together. 

Once the island is complete, the orangutan group will be protected, monitored and observed by a special fulltime team to ensure Alba and her friends and thriving! To help BOS Foundation build Alba and her friends a new island forest, you can donate here. 

The BOS Foundation cares for over 750 orangutans and employs over 400 staff members who are all dedicated to the Conservation of the Bornean Orangutan. BOS also contributes to saving the habitats of these magnificent animals with the help of the Indonesian Ministry of Foresty, local communities, and international partners. Alba is certainly in good hands!

Alba’s unique beauty also serves as a reminder to speak up for orangutans. Orangutans share about 97 percent of the same DNA as humans and are very similar to us in many ways, but because of our own actions, the fate of these amazing animals has been compromised. Orangutans are native to the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Being that they are an arboreal species, they are dependent on the lush rainforest environment for their livelihood. Tragically, the area of rainforest across these islands has declined by over 80 percent in the past two decades alone, primarily due to palm oil production.

It’s currently estimated around 300 football fields of rainforest are leveled every hour to make way for palm oil plantations. Without the rainforest, orangutans are forced onto palm oil plantations where they are viewed as “pests” and either shot point blank or captured and sold into the illegal wildlife trade. If their habitat continues to be destroyed, they have little to no chance at survival and scientists estimate they could be extinct from the wild in the next 20 years. The future of the orangutan is in our hands. Learn how to cut palm oil out of your life by clicking here.

To learn more about the BOS Foundation click here. We can’t wait to photos of Alba in her new island forest home!

Image source: Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation/Facebook