Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. With just over 13,000 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild, and approximately 800 Tapanuli orangutans individuals, both species are at severe risk of extinction.
The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) is the only initiative actively establishing entirely new, genetically viable and self-sustaining wild populations of any great ape species, anywhere in the world.
Researchers have studied Sumatran orangutan behavioral characteristics for years, such as: how they live, what they eat, how they reproduce, and other unique things about them as populations and individuals.
Orangutan populations, just like humans, are known for having unique forms of culture. Orangutans in different areas have varying traditions, specific “ways of doing things”, either from what they have learned from their parents and peers, or from having developed new and innovative ways to adapt to their individual environments and situations – which itself may then be learned and taken up by other orangutans!
With regional, national and international universities and institutions, the SOCP conducts essential surveys and monitoring of wild and reintroduced Sumatran orangutan populations and their habitat, and continues the long-term studies of their behavior and ecology in the wild.
A real highlight has been the formation of an outreach and education team to flesh out the learning experience we’ll offer visitors to our Orangutan Haven. We have solicited input from local communities on the issues related to conservation that most affects their daily lives and used these suggestions to produce an educational concept catered to the needs of those people that would have the most direct impact on the forests of Sumatra.
The SOCP’s built Orangutan Quarantine Centre outside of Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia where they undergo extensive medical checks and are rehabilitated in socialization groups and on-site ‘forest schools’. Once deemed mature enough and fit for returning to the wild, orangutans are transferred in groups to one of our Reintroduction Centre. Here they will be released to form new, genetically viable populations in extensive, protected forest blocks.
The SOCP advocates for the expansion of conservation areas as well as the improvement of protection in existing areas. Working closely with local and international partners, we are working to prevent and mitigate threats to the species and to strengthen protection of orangutan habitat.
Save our animals to protect our future.
Ensure that our children and grandchildren inherit a world with thriving ecosystems and awe-inspiring wildlife
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