Forest Fire Smoke Threatens Orangutan Lives, Beyond Habitat and Health

The smoke emanating from forest and land fires (karhutla) in Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, has become a serious threat to orangutan lives. It is now evident that these fires not only harm habitats and human health but can also be a direct cause of death for wildlife, particularly orangutans. In August 2026, seven orangutans were rescued in the region after being affected by fires. One of them, an adult male named Sampurna, was found in a weakened state near an oil palm plantation on Sunday, August 30. He was believed to have migrated from his habitat. Sampurna suffered from respiratory problems due to exposure to karhutla smoke. His condition deteriorated after being found around 6:00 AM on the same day, and his death was confirmed around 3:20 PM. According to reports from the local media outlet Kompas, Sampurna's cause of death was severe respiratory distress, including acute hypoxia (a condition of oxygen deficiency in the body), triggered by exposure to forest and land fire smoke. This tragedy occurred while the fire season had not yet fully ended. The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded 463 high-confidence hotspots in Kalimantan and 264 in Sumatra as of September 2, predicting that hot and dry conditions would persist into early September. The threat posed by fires, especially for primates like orangutans, could be long-lasting. Research focusing on the indirect impacts of smoke and haze, which has received relatively less attention, is also progressing. A study by Harrison and colleagues, published in Global Ecology and Conservation in 2026, has gathered information from primate researchers, highlighting the significance of this issue. This situation underscores the challenges in fire management in Indonesia and the profound, unexpected impacts on wildlife. For critically endangered species like orangutans, the degradation of their habitat is an existential threat. Source: Mongabay Indonesia