This orangutan is a real miracle!
Alba is the only albino orangutan to exist on the planet. She was found by the efforts of the Borneo Orangutan Survival in April 2017.
Before that, the inhabitants of a village in Indonesia were keeping the orangutan in a cage. Alba was in a poor health condition and it took her a year to recover. In late 2018, Alba was finally released into the wild. For six months, experts were watching the process of her adaptation.
And this week the news spread that Alba is still doing great in the wild. A few other orangutans have joined her in the jungle.
Alba’s rescue was rare, but positive news. This species is considered endangered, as recent deforestations have brought to the reduction of their habitats. Plantation workers and ordinary villagers attack orangutans considering them pests and hunters capture them to sell as pets.
Alba, together with another female orangutan named Kiku, were taken to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park in Kalimantan.
The experts plan to watch the animals for another year to make sure they can adapt to life in the wild.
In 2017, when the orangutan was found, Alba was 5 years old. She was suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and parasites. Alba became the first albino orangutan that the BOSF organization has taken for rehabilitation.
Kiku was sent to rehab together with Alba. The two female orangutans became so close friends that experts decided to release them into the wild together.
One of the reasons of such a decision was the fact, that albino animals usually face lots of problems with adaptation and communication with other animals. They also have visual and hearing problems.
