Foundation seeks special reserve for Alba the albino orangutan

A conservation group in Indonesia is aiming to create a five-hectare “forest island” for the world’s only known albino orangutan after rescuing it from villagers earlier this year.

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said the five-year-old primate, which it named Alba, cannot be safely returned to the wild because of health issues related to her albinism.

Alba, an albino orangutan, sits on a branch of a tree while eating watermelon at Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia (Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation)
Alba, an albino orangutan, sits on a branch of a tree while eating watermelon at Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia (Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation)

Spokesman Nico Hermanu said the foundation is hoping to raise the 80,000 dollars (£59,000) needed to buy land in central Kalimantan for the special reserve.

The foundation said the land, which would be surrounded by a moat, would allow Alba to “live freely in a natural habitat, but protected from threats posed by humans”.

Orangutans, only found in the wild on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, are critically endangered.

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