Dozens of Tibeans Saved from Karhutla in Indonesia

Conservation groups say that dozens of endangered orangutans have been rescued in the last few weeks of forest fires and land (carhutla) which occurred in various parts of Indonesia.

On Saturday (17 / 10), the conservation agency of West Kalimantan and Indonesian nonprofit organization, YIRU, declared a team has evacuated 51 orangutan from various locations in the province between August 6th and 19th October.

The Indonesian Forest Ministry's data this week indicates the number of orangutans saved in Kalimantan over the last few months could reach 96.

AFP says authorities have not been asked for further details to confirm that number.

The most popular rescue was on Saturday (17 / 10), which is three conservation agencies evacuating a 20-year-old male orangutan in Hampangen Village, Central Kalimantan.

"The evacuation process was done very carefully," revealed these institutions. "Once the orangutan is sedated, medical team immediately perform a medical examination before taking the task force to the rehab center."

The forest and land fires that have been going on for months have sparked pollution, closed schools, surges of respiratory disorders both in humans and animals, and limiting outdoor activity in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Timor Leste.

In Sunday (18 / 10), the levels of pollution in the region were back in an unhealthy category that was so unhealthy, it covered many areas in Southeast Asia with toxic smoke.

IQAir, the Swiss based air quality monitoring agency, re-placing Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in the list of five major cities with the highest pollution rates in the world.

This is due to fires on the island of Kalimantan and Sumatra continue to produce smoke and compounded by intense El Niño weather phenomena.