雅加达 – 印度尼西亚当局和救援人员周日表示，最近几周在婆罗洲岛大火中被救出的八只红毛猩猩已被释放到一个受保护的森林中。
Jakarta – Eight orangutans rescued in recent weeks from blazes that tore through Borneo island have been released into a protected forest, Indonesian authorities and rescuers said Sunday.
林业部和YIARI野生动物康复基金会在一份声明中表示，这些红毛猩猩上个月在婆罗洲印度尼西亚一侧的西加里曼丹省被救出，当时它们的栖息地——主要是靠近森林家园的种植园——被大火夷为平地。
The apes were saved from several locations razed by fires — mostly plantations near their forest homes — in the West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian side of Borneo last month, the forestry ministry and the YIARI wildlife rehabilitation foundation said in a statement.
这三对母子红毛猩猩以及两只青少年雄性红毛猩猩于周五被迁移到西加里曼丹省的 Batu Nyambu 受保护森林，这是一个面积为23,000公顷、拥有原始和次生森林覆盖的保护区。
The orangutans, three mom and baby pairs as well as two male teenagers, were relocated on Friday to the Batu Nyambu Protected Forest in West Kalimantan, a 23,000-hectare reserve with primary and secondary forest cover.
YIARI 首席执行官 Karmele Llano Sanchez 表示，当红毛猩猩的栖息地不再安全时，将它们迁移到新地点是“必要的一步”。
YIARI CEO Karmele Llano Sanchez said relocating the animals to a new location was a “necessary step” when their habitat was no longer safe.
她说：“保护栖息地始终是确保红毛猩猩拥有安全森林生存的首要任务，但只要它们的栖息地仍受到威胁，救援就是我们帮助它们生存的最佳选择之一。”
“Protection of habitats will always be a top priority to ensure orangutans continue to have safe forests to live in, but as long as their habitat remains threatened, rescue is one of the best options we can take to help them survive,” Sanchez said.
YIARI 运营总监 Argitoe Ranting 表示，之所以选择该保护区，是因为其食物和水源充足，并且与其他森林相连。
The reserve was chosen due to availability of food and water sources as well as its connectivity to other forests, said YIARI operational director Argitoe Ranting.
他说：“我们希望确保被救的红毛猩猩不仅仅是从一个地方被转移到另一个地方，而是真的有机会在它们的自然栖息地中生存下来。”
“We want to ensure that rescued orangutans are not simply moved from one place to another, but actually have a chance to survive in their natural habitat,” Argitoe said.
印度尼西亚当局和YIARI表示，自八月份以来至周五，他们共从火灾威胁中救出了46只红毛猩猩，当地自然资源局局长 Murlan Dameria Pane 如是说。
Indonesian authorities and YIARI rescued 46 orangutans from threats of fires between August and Friday, local natural resources agency head Murlan Dameria Pane said.
根据世界自然基金会（WWF）的数据，红毛猩猩处于极度濒危状态，目前婆罗洲和苏门答腊地区仍存约104,000只红毛猩猩，而一个世纪前这一数字超过230,000只。
Orangutans are critically endangered, and around 104,000 orangutans remain in Borneo and Sumatra, down from more than 230,000 a century ago, according to conservation group WWF.
上个月，国际自然保护联盟警告称，火灾正在烧毁含有婆罗洲52%红毛猩猩种群的栖息地。
Last month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned fires were burning in habitats containing 52% of Borneo’s orangutan population.
印度尼西亚在旱季期间经常与山火作斗争，但今年由于厄尔尼诺天气现象的影响，山火加剧了，这一现象有望成为自四十年前可比较记录开始以来最强的之一。
Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, but the fires have intensified this year because of the El Nino weather phenomenon, set to be one of the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago.
专家们还指出，改变了原本防火自然景观的刀耕火种土地清理方式也导致了这一情况。
Experts have also pointed to slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape.
这些火灾在当地造成了严重的雾霾，导致数万人出现呼吸道疾病，同时也引发了新加坡和马来西亚的区域性空气污染激增。
The fires have created severe haze locally, with tens of thousands of cases of respiratory illnesses, and also caused regional air pollution spikes in Singapore and Malaysia.