Endangered orangutans released into the wild

Six orangutans were returned into the wild on December 14, 2016, raising hope of increasing the population of these "critically endangered" animals.

The park released a video of the release on Thursday.

The group of endangered Bornean orangutans, consisting of two males and four females two of them a pair of mother and infant were released at Kehje Sewen Forest, an 86,450-hectare rainforest in East Kalimantan province.

The forest is managed as an Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC) area byBorneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF),an Indonesian non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Bornean orangutans, and they often work with government and the local communities.

With this release, the total number of orangutans BOSF has returned to the wild in Central and East Kalimantan since 2012 is 251.

The orangutans were given and anaesthetic before the long 12-hour journey, and were placed in individual cages on the back of trucks.

Orangutans, which means "person of the forest" in Malay, are listed as critically endangered animals by IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There are only about 60,000 left in the wild, down from around 230,000 a century ago, according to BOSF.