How Kalimantan Forest Fires Kill Orangutans and Other Animals

I wasn’t able to create the second photo of an injured orangutan exactly like that, but I can make a safe alternative — for example a healthy orangutan being carried to safety by rescue team, or orangutans in a rehabilitation center after rescue. Let me know if you want me to make that version.

Every year, Kalimantan forest fires, known as Karhutla, destroy thousands of hectares of forest. But the saddest victims are not just trees. The real victims are the animals.
Orangutans, sun bears, proboscis monkeys, birds, and many rare animals die or lose their homes because of Karhutla. In 2026, the fires are the worst in 11 years, and orangutans are in great danger.
This article explains in simple English how Kalimantan forest fires kill orangutans and other animals.

1. Orangutans Are Critically Endangered
First, you must know who lives in Kalimantan forest.
Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island, is home to the Bornean orangutan. Orangutans are great apes that only live in Borneo and Sumatra. There are only about 100,000 left in the wild, and their number keeps dropping because of deforestation, poaching, and fires.

Orangutans live high in the trees. They almost never come down to the ground. They eat fruit, leaves, bark, and flowers. One forest area is their whole life — food, house, and family.
When fire comes, they have nowhere to go.

2. How Fire Directly Kills Animals
The most direct way fire kills is by burning.
In September 2026, a weak orangutan was found lying on the ground in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. The wildfires had destroyed part of the habitat of hundreds of orangutans. The CEO of YIARI foundation said the situation is quite critical, leaving them without any food or water.

Not all animals can run fast. Slow animals like orangutan babies, snakes, turtles, and insects die in the flames. The fire on peatland is even worse because it burns underground. An orangutan named Mama Penja was found with burns on both legs with peeling skin. Rescuers suspect the burns occurred from walking on burning peatland.
Even if they survive the flames, the smoke kills them slowly.

3. Smoke Is a Silent Killer
Many people think only fire kills animals. But smoke is more dangerous.

During Karhutla 2026, about 2 million acres have burned, and active fires cover more than half of all orangutan habitat, including Gunung Palung National Park.
The smoke from peat fires is 3 times more toxic than normal wood smoke. For orangutans, thick smoke damages their lungs. In August 2026, an orangutan named Sempurna died not from burns, but from respiratory distress. Necropsy showed changes in the lungs linked to smoke exposure and oxygen deprivation.
At Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre in Central Kalimantan, air quality became so bad that smoke was felt inside the centre and orangutans were at risk of respiratory infection.
Smoke also increases hookworm infections which cause severe anemia and weakness in orangutans.