What is happening now?
We, the PanEco Foundation and our Indonesian sister foundation YEL, are about to officially launch a new project that is unique in the world so far. For almost 30 years, we and our local partners have been rescuing mainly young, orphaned orangutans from illegal pet ownership or from the wildlife trade. Almost all of them have been successfully released into the wild after a few years of care and training. But some animals have been so badly injured and traumatised that they can no longer be released.
The Orangutan Haven will become the new home for these impaired orangutans. At the same time, it is an environmental education centre teaching about rainforest, illegal wildlife trade and sustainable development. Now the first orangutans are being relocated from the Quarantine and Rehabilitation Centre to the islands in the Orangutan Haven.
The orangutans are anaesthetised that we can move them without stress. 
Veterinarian Yenny Saraswati checks how the orangutan is doing in the transport box. 
By pick-up truck to the Orangutan Haven 
Right after the move: still quite sleepy in the new home 
Finally out in the fresh air: Leuser in his new home
Why your support is important
We now need your support to make the move happen as quickly as possible. The Government of Indonesia has set a tight deadline for the first animals to be relocated. Never has such a relocation been carried out and nothing must go wrong in this phase. This requires, for example, very well qualified personnel who closely monitor the behaviour of the orangutans. The islands for the orangutans also need to be better equipped to be species appropriate. Please help us to cover the initial costs of the project!
Leuser: Blind because he was hit by 63 rifle bullets which also injured his eyes. 
Dina: Blind and mentally impaired due to an infectious disease of the brain. 
Krismon: Physically severely impaired because he was kept in a far too small cage for years. 
Paguh: Lost his eyesight when shot at with rifle bullets. 
Deknong: Had already been released into the wild and was found partially paralysed and with growths on various joints and brought back to us. 
Lewis: Blind because he was driven off a plantation by air rifle shots. 
Fahzren: No shyness towards humans due to years of captivity. A reintroduction would be too dangerous for him. 
Hope: Severely traumatised and blind because she was shot at, what also killed her baby.
Why do we need the Orangutan Haven?
Some of the orangutans we have rescued are so badly injured that they cannot be released back into the wild. Until now, they have lived in closed enclosures in our Quarantine and Rehabilitation centre. But these animals have already experienced so much suffering that they deserve a better life. For more than five years, we have been working with local partners to build the Orangutan Haven, a globally unique, innovative project to enable the orangutans to live in naturalistic environment. In addition, the Orangutan Haven raises awareness among people of different ages about protection of the wild species and their habitat, the tropical rainforest. By the end of January 2024, eight orangutans will move into large, naturally vegetated islands surrounded by moats within the Orangutan Haven. Here, they will find trees, ropes, climbing structures and nesting platforms in the open air instead of the caged enclosures they previously inhabited.
Welcome to the unique Orangutan Haven 
Across the longest bamboo bridge in Asia into the Orangutan Haven 
View of the orangutan islands from the viewing platform 
One of the houses where the orangutans spend the night 
Bird's eye view of one of the nine islands