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On August 21, police made a shocking discovery in Pontianak, Indonesia in West Borneo. They raided a property and were horrified to find two terrified baby orangutans in cages.

Source: International Animal Rescue

The 1-year-old male and 8-month-old female had been torn from their natural habitats where their mothers had likely been killed in front of them so that they could be sold as pets. When the authorities arrived on the scene, the orangutans had been packaged into shipping containers, meaning that they were about to be trafficked.

The police alerted International Animal Rescue (IAR) who knew just how to handle the situation as, sadly, this is not an isolated case and represents a much larger problem.

A veterinarian from the IAR who examined the animals explained the severe state of stress that they were in:

One of them is rocking back and forth – this is an abnormal behaviour presented by animals in extremely stressful conditions.

Source: International Animal Rescue

The extremely agitated animals were transferred to the IAR facility in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, which is already home to 111 orangutans who have sadly suffered the same fate.

These two baby animals had been separated from their mothers way too early, meaning that they were missing crucial nutrients, protection, and instincts. Key elaborated:

They have been torn from their mothers in the forest and hidden away in small, airless boxes. These two babies should have been clinging to their mothers for comfort and protection; instead, they were being kept alone in the dark, frightened and far from home.

Source: International Animal Rescue

The animals are now being kept in quarantine until staff at the IAR facility are certain that they are healthy. They will then be placed with 'babysitters' who will ensure that the animals are well looked after and will help to reintegrate them with other orangutans so that they can eventually be re-released into the wild where they belong.

To support International Animal Rescue and help them to continue their amazing work, you can make a donation by clicking here.

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