A University of British Columbia researcher is sharing her experiences helping run a sa国际传媒渏ungle schoolsa国际传媒� in Indonesia that rehabilitates orphaned orangutans back into the wild.

Jacqueline Sunderland-Groves spent eight years with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, founded in 1991 to deal with the large numbers of orphaned and illegally held orangutans in need of rehabilitation.

sa国际传媒淎 lot of what we do focuses on rescuing orangutans in areas of conflict, oil palm plantations, areas that were burned, areas that have had habitat disturbances, but also rescuing infants found in villages,sa国际传媒� she said.

Sunderland-Groves, whosa国际传媒檚 now a research scientist with the UBC faculty of forestrysa国际传媒檚 Wildlife Co-existence Lab, is giving a talk about her experience running the foundation at Vancouversa国际传媒檚 Beaty Biodiversity Museum on Sunday.

It takes about six to eight years for an orangutan to graduate the foundationsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渏ungle school,sa国际传媒� depending on how young the animals are when they come in, she said in an interview Friday.

sa国际传媒淭he baby starts baby school and then goes up to forest school 1 and forest school level 2,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淏etween the ages of six and eight, they become very strong sa国际传媒� and thatsa国际传媒檚 when they progress to naturally vegetated areas or pre-release islands.sa国际传媒�

The school teaches the great apes the skills needed to survive in the wild that they would normally have learned from their mothers, Sunderland-Groves said.

That includes how to climb trees, which foods to eat and which to avoid, how to build night nests and how to avoid predators. Staff teach by example, which helps the young orangutans learn.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, about 70,000 orangutans remain in Borneo, Sumatra, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sunderland-Groves said the biggest threat to the animalssa国际传媒� habitat comes from the clearing of land for palm oil plantations, with conflict and forest fires adding to the problem.

The foundation has two centres in Indonesia, housing about 550 orangutans. Since 2012, the organization has reintroduced 378 of the auburn-maned apes into the wild.

A successful reintroduction is one where the animal survives for a full year in the forest, Sunderland-Groves said.

This means the ape has learned to adapt to all the seasons by foraging for other vegetation at times when fruit is less plentiful in the forest.

The foundation fits the animals with a radio transmitter before reintroduction so their progress can be monitored.

Teachers and babysitters become quite attached to the apes, she said, with each animal having its own personality and characteristics.

sa国际传媒淏ut just seeing an orangutan come out of a cage and climb straight up to the forest and knowing thatsa国际传媒檚 the last time they are going to be in a cage is just great,sa国际传媒� she said.

While Indonesia is on the other side of the globe, Sunderland-Groves said itsa国际传媒檚 important for people in Canada to care about these creatures because they share 97 per cent of the same DNA as humans.

sa国际传媒淔rom Borneo to British Columbia, we have exactly the same problems to a certain degree,sa国际传媒� she said, adding both areas are affected by forest fires and timber extraction, leading to human-wildlife conflict.

sa国际传媒淲e share this planet and we have a duty to protect it.sa国际传媒�

The rehabilitation sa国际传媒渟choolsa国际传媒� that Sunderland-Groves helped establish is also the subject of a 10-part documentary series set to air on the Love Nature channel.

sa国际传媒淥rangutan Jungle Schoolsa国际传媒� premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. and runs for 10 weeks.

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press

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