They were buried by a team of officers to prevent possible diseases

These are the horrific pictures of three female orangutans who were killed in a land fire in Indonesia.

The orangutans - two twenty year olds and a baby around the age of one - were caught in the blaze near a protected forest in Bontang City, East Kalimantan.

The founder of the Centre for Orangutan Protection, Hardi Baktiantoro, claims the forest fire was deliberately started to clear the land for farming.

Officers evacuate the three Orangutan killed by a forest fire at a protected forest on Belimbing village, Indonesia

The founder of the Centre for Orangutan Protection, Hardi Baktiantoro, claims the forest fire was deliberately started to clear the land for farming

A team of officers buried the bodies of the three female orangutans to prevent them from spreading disease

'It is completely illegal to clear forest land by burning it, and in this case the land that was burnt still had three orangutans living there,' he said.

After investigating the death of the orangutans, a team of officers from the Kutai National Park and the Bontang city police buried the three orangutans.

'The bodies of the orangutans were decayed so we buried them soon after the investigation to prevent them from spreading disease,' the head of the Kutai National Park Office, Erly Sukrismanto, said.

The body of the orangutans were discovered after a resident posted a picture of them on Facebook.

Professional photojournalist Yuli Seperi said: 'I saw a friend post a status on Facebook about the deaths so I went the location where the three orangutans were.

'The deaths made me extremely upset as orangutans are a huge icon to Indonesia.'

The body of the orangutans were discovered after a resident posted a picture of them on Facebook.

Professional photographer Yuli Seperi said: 'The deaths made me extremely upset as orangutans are a huge icon to Indonesia.'

The charred bodies of the orangutan were found in a protected forest in Bontang

The forest fires are claimed to have started around 14.30 Saturday 20th February.

The founder of the Centre for Orangutan Protection said: 'It is not clear why the three orangutans could not escape the fire as they usually can. Perhaps they were afraid of the humans that surrounded the fragmented forest.

'The three dead are believed to be a family of all females, two twenty year olds and one baby orangutan around the age of one.'

The founder of the Centre for Orangutan Protection said it is not clear why the three orangutans could not escape the fire as they usually can