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Taymur on the pre-release island

Photograph:

BOS Foundation / dpa

Taymur has moved – to a pre-release island. The orangutan lived in a rehabilitation center for six years, but now he is almost completely free. The fate of the animal is representative of the victims of the illegal wildlife trade, according to a statement from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Rescue Center Nyaru Menteng (BOS). Taymur's story shows how cruel humans can be to animals.

Presumably, poachers had killed the mother and stolen the baby, the association said. Taymur was abducted from Borneo to Kuwait as a cub and sold to a rich Kuwaiti via illegal traders. He taught him to smoke and gave him drugs, which he is said to have taken himself.

A coincidence led Bos to be able to help the animal: "When his owner has an accident while intoxicated, Taymur is discovered in the car and confiscated," says an animated video of the association. First, Taymur had to go through rehab at the Kuwait Zoo.

When he arrived at the rescue center, the orangutan was three years old. In six years of "forest school," Taymur was able to "learn to be a wild orangutan," the association writes. Initially, he only accepted human food, such as cucumbers or tea. He first had to get to know natural food sources. Now the now nine-year-old orangutan has taken a big step closer to freedom.

Together with three other orangutans, he was taken to a pre-release island. Here he should continue to learn to become independent and to establish contacts with other orangutans. Dia Salat Islands are a cluster of forested islands that are protected and provide a safe haven for wildlife, according to the association.

Taymur stormed out of the transport box when the flap opened, it is said. He first went to a feeding platform with pumpkins and bananas. "Then, after a last look at our team, he soon climbed the next tall tree and nervously shook the branches," the club writes. "It's like he's waving us goodbye."

After about one to three years, when the animals have done well on the pre-release island, they are given a transmitter and are then released into the rainforest.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, Bornean orangutans are considered critically endangered.

Ani