The Center was home to 41 orangutans at the time, of which 18 escaped from their holding cages during the incident and all but two animals were unharmed. One fugitive adult male was located after ten days of intensive searching by a trained field team.

Before / after: 18 orangutans fled from their destroyed enclosures into the trees on the station grounds.

«It’s incredible that there were no fatalities, considering the scale of the destruction,» said Dr. Yenny Saraswati, senior veterinarian at SOCP at the time. «The team worked tirelessly to ensure that every orangutan was brought to safety.»

Next steps

While immediate steps have been taken to stabilize the situation, the recovery process will take significant time and effort. Priorities include:

• Ensuring continuity of care: Maintaining essential daily care and rehabilitation for the orangutans.
• Rebuilding infrastructure: Restoring the clinic, enclosures, and other damaged facilities.
• Strengthening preparedness: Enhancing infrastructure to better withstand future challenges.

Update after two weeks

Unfortunately, after two weeks we received the sad news that two orangutans have died as a result of the landslide. One of them was the fugitive adult male. He died because he couldn’t find enough food and succumbed from exhaustion shortly after the field team found him. On the 12th of December, an infant, which had been in a critical state of health since it was brought to the station at the beginning of 2023, also died. It is still being clarified whether it had suffered internal injuries. Fortunately, the other 39 orangutans are doing well. We are doing our utmost to provide the orangutans with the best possible care under these difficult circumstances. To improve health monitoring, additional check-ups are being carried out, focusing on the nine youngest infants.

What is left of the infrastructure

«This extreme weather highlights the increasing challenges faced by conservation programs like the SOCP», said Dr. Ian Singleton, OBE, Conservation Director at Orangutan Haven and a founder of the SOCP. «The damage is immense, but with support from the government and the global community, the critical work of orangutan conservation will continue.»

Fortunately, the socialisation cage has remained intact. It is home to 29 orangutans. Ten animals are currently housed in a temporary enclosure. The repair and construction of the cages will be carried out as quickly as possible so that the animals can go back to their familiar environment as soon as possible. A temporary veterinary clinic has also been set up in a storage room. The most important health checks can be carried out here.

Overwhelming solidarity

The year has come to a surprising end – the landslide at the reception and care center has shocked us all and the extent of the damage, amounting to over 500,000 US Dollars has presented us with huge challenges. We have already received over 300,000 US Dollars through the fundraising campaign that has been running since December 6 for emergency aid and reconstruction. This huge national and international solidarity and support from partner organizations and individual donors fills us with great gratitude and gives us the courage to continue our work to protect the orangutans.