Stage 01 — Rescue & quarantine
Confiscations from the pet trade, orphans found after fires, adults displaced by clearing. Every arrival begins with quarantine and a full veterinary workup before any contact with other orangutans.
One step from extinct in the wild
Critically endangered is the highest risk category before Extinct in the Wild. BOS Australia funds the largest orangutan reintroduction programme on earth — and every dollar raised here lands in Borneo.
Borneo Orangutan Survival Australia funds the rescue, rehabilitation and release of critically endangered Bornean orangutans. We have backed the work since 2001, helping fund 470+ Indonesian staff and the 340+ orangutans in care across two sanctuaries in Kalimantan. Together with our partners, supporters and volunteers, we return orangutans to protected forest — 556 so far — and restore the habitat they need to stay there.
Four stages, one way home
Rehabilitation reads like tree rings — each stage grows around the last, and none of them can be skipped
Read about rescue and quarantine
Stage 02 — Forest School
Dedicated nannies teach them what a mother would have: what to eat, how to climb, how to build a nest that holds through a storm, and how to be wary of people. It takes years, not months.
Stage 03 — Pre-release islands
A final unsupervised exam on a forested river island. Candidates must prove they can feed and shelter themselves without any human support at all before they are cleared for release.
Stage 04 — Wild release
Into protected forest by boat, road and helicopter, then monitored from the ground for years afterwards. 556 orangutans have made it all the way through and are living wild today.
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Adopt an orangutan
Follow one orangutan through Forest School and out into the wild. We can't do it without you.
Forest Chatter, four times a year — field dispatches from Nyaru Menteng and Samboja Lestari, release updates, and news of the orangutans you help fund.
Two decades of Australian supporters
Every number here is an orangutan that had a name, a nanny and a release date. Here is where the work stands today:
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orangutans released back into protected forest
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0+
still in our care across two sanctuaries in Kalimantan
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Indonesian nannies, vets, technicians and rangers on the ground
The Threats
Critically endangered for a reason
There are numerous threats to the viability of the remaining wild orangutan population, and habitat destruction is the largest of them. Without effective habitat protection, expert consensus warns of extinction in the wild likely within 10 to 20 years.
Work with us
Looking to align your business with a charity whose every dollar lands in Borneo? We're volunteer-run in Australia — but we can't do this alone.
Donate
Donations over $2 are tax deductible in Australia, and we pay for exactly what the sanctuaries need next.
Adopt an orangutan
Follow one orangutan through Forest School and out into the wild, with updates as they go.
Fundraise
Trek for orangutans, run a workplace appeal or start your own campaign. Every route ends in the same forest.
Our News
Go to Forest Chatter
Forest Chatter, June 2026: this quarter's release
Our quarterly newsletter, published since December 2011. Field dispatches from both sanctuaries, plus the latest cohort cleared for release from the Salat Island pre-release cluster.
Baimah's year in Forest School
Cautious on the ground, fearless the moment she is off it. A year of learning which fruit is ready, which is not, and how to build a nest that will hold through a storm.