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World desk8 min

How Forest Fires Affect Orangutans and Other Wildlife

Forest fires threaten wildlife through flames, smoke, displacement and lasting habitat change. Orangutan studies and rescue reports show documented harms, but not a population-wide toll.
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Forest fires can harm orangutans and other wildlife directly through flames, indirectly through smoke and displacement, and over longer periods by changing the habitat animals depend on for food, shelter, and movement. Evidence from Borneo includes observed changes in orangutan activity during the 2015 smoke period, individual rescues and injuries reported in 2026, and site-specific findings on movement after the 2019 fire. These examples show real risks, but they do not establish a single mortality rate or a population-wide outcome for orangutans—or for other species.

How fires affect wildlife: three stages of harm

A fire does not have to burn an animal for it to be affected. The risks can begin as flames approach, continue while smoke hangs over a forest, and persist after the visible fire has passed. Which effect matters most depends on where an animal is, how long it is exposed, whether it can move to safer habitat, and how much suitable habitat remains nearby.

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During the fire: flames, heat, and escape

Animals in or near a burning area may be injured, killed, stranded, or forced to move. Recent reports from Indonesia describe orangutans found in fire-affected areas, including animals with burns and one that died after rescue. Such cases establish that serious harm can occur; they do not tell us how often it occurs across a forest or how many animals may go unobserved.

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Movement away from danger is not always straightforward. An animal may have to leave familiar habitat, and the route to safer ground may itself be affected by fire or changing local conditions. A September 2026 update from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS Foundation) describes orangutans evacuated from pre-release islands after low river levels weakened a natural barrier. This example illustrates why response decisions can depend on local geography and conditions, rather than on fire alone.

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During and after smoke: exposure beyond the flames

Smoke and haze can reach areas outside the active fire zone. In a peer-reviewed study at Tuanan Research Station in Central Kalimantan, four adult flanged male Bornean orangutans were observed before, during, and after fires between March 2015 and January 2016. The researchers recorded more resting during and after the smoke period and less travel time and distance. They also found increased fat catabolism after the smoke period.

The study measured behavior and urine indicators of energetics; it did not measure respiratory disease. The authors reported that the post-smoke increase in ketones was not explained by changes in caloric intake, and suggested it may have been associated with greater energy expenditure, possibly related to an immune response. That explanation is a possibility, not a demonstrated cause. The small sample—four adult males at one site—means the findings should be treated as evidence of a documented response, not as an estimate for every orangutan or wildlife species.

After flames: habitat quality and recovery

Fire can alter the ecological function of a forest, including food availability and habitat quality. BOS Foundation’s September 2026 situation update notes that peatland fires can be difficult to detect and extinguish, and may smolder below the ground surface. As a result, the end of visible flames does not necessarily mean the end of the fire or the end of its effects.

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If food or suitable habitat becomes less available, animals may need to change their movements or use of space. A December 2025 record of a study at Tuanan reports that most observed orangutans decreased their home ranges after the 2019 fire, while one flanged male and one adult female expanded theirs. The difference among individuals is important: a change in home range is not a uniform response, and this finding from one study site cannot establish what orangutans elsewhere will do.

What has been documented in orangutans

The available evidence spans different kinds of observation, which answer different questions. A field study can track behavior or physiological indicators in a defined sample; a rescue report can document what happened to an individual; and a conservation update can describe conditions at sites under an organization’s care. None should be mistaken for a complete count of the effects of fire across a region.

Evidence What it documents What it does not establish
Erb and colleagues’ 2018 study at Tuanan Behavior and urine samples from four adult flanged males across the 2015 fire period; more resting during and after smoke, less travel, and increased fat catabolism after the smoke period. A respiratory illness rate, a response shared by all orangutans, or a population-level effect.
Ministry of Forestry release, August 31, 2026 An adult male in weak condition was evacuated on August 30 from a community oil-palm area in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, after a report to the local wildlife rescue unit. The ministry cited nearby fire as a concern for wildlife movement and condition. That the fire directly caused the animal’s condition, or how common similar cases are.
Associated Press report, October 10, 2026 Young female Novita was found clinging to a nearly leafless tree amid smoke; the BOS Foundation chairman said she had burns on her hands and feet. The report says male Sampurna, found struggling to breathe in a fire-affected area, died hours after rescue, according to Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry. A regional mortality rate or the number of animals affected but not found.
BOS Foundation situation update, September 2026 Fire impact in the Mawas Conservation Area, site-specific readiness and response, and evacuations from pre-release islands as low river levels weakened a natural barrier. The extent of harm across all forests or all wild orangutan populations.
Garuda / Journal of Tropical Biodiversity study record, December 2025 Different home-range changes among observed orangutans at Tuanan following the 2019 fire. A general prediction for orangutans at other sites or a quantified regional trend.

The 2018 study authors concluded: “Results show that wildfire smoke negatively affects orangutan condition, and sustained research is needed to assess the magnitude of the threat to the long-term viability of this Critically Endangered species.” Their conclusion supports taking smoke exposure seriously while recognizing that the long-term population-level magnitude remains unresolved.

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What the evidence says about other wildlife

The same broad pathways—direct exposure to fire, smoke or haze, displacement, and post-fire habitat change—can affect wildlife beyond orangutans. But the evidence summarized here does not provide parallel measurements of injury, mortality, smoke exposure, or movement for named non-orangutan species. It would therefore be misleading to apply the orangutan study’s behavioral findings or any orangutan case count to mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians as a group.

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Species and individual animals may encounter different conditions, and the outcomes depend on their location and ability to move or find suitable habitat. The BOS Foundation describes effects on food availability and habitat quality for orangutans and other wildlife, but that broad conservation concern is not a species-by-species measurement. The appropriate conclusion is that these shared pathways create risks that merit monitoring—not that every kind of wildlife responds in the same way.

How to read the 2026 fire and rescue figures

Burned-area estimates reported in October 2026 differ because they come from different sources and cover different periods. They should not be combined or presented as if they were measurements of the same thing. The Associated Press reported the following figures:

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Figure Source and period How to interpret it
More than 202,000 hectares burned Indonesian government data, covering January through July 2026, as reported by the Associated Press on October 10, 2026. A government figure for the stated seven-month period.
Nearly 896,000 hectares burned Nusantara Atlas project estimate through the end of August 2026, as reported by the Associated Press on October 10, 2026. An estimate from a different source that covers a later period; it is not directly interchangeable with the government figure.
More than 270 wild animals Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry, as reported by the Associated Press on October 10, 2026. Animals in Kalimantan rescued, rehabilitated, or guided to safer habitat as of that date—not a count of all animals harmed or killed.

These figures provide context for fire activity and response, not a wildlife census. The burned-area numbers do not show how much habitat was usable by orangutans before or after fire, and the response count does not reveal how many animals were never located. Likewise, individual rescue stories make particular harms visible but cannot supply a population-wide rate.

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Why peatland fires complicate wildlife response

Peatland fires can be difficult to identify and extinguish because fire may continue smoldering below the ground surface, according to BOS Foundation’s September 2026 update. This can complicate both the assessment of whether an area is safe and decisions about when animals can return or move through it. Smoke and haze may also travel beyond the area where flames are visible, so an animal’s exposure cannot be inferred solely from whether it was found at the fire’s edge.

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The update reported that some BOS Foundation facilities and release sites remained safe while Mawas Conservation Area had fire impacts. That variation underscores the need to assess conditions site by site. A status report about one facility cannot stand in for the condition of a wider landscape, and an affected area does not by itself establish that every animal there was injured.

What prevention and response involve

Fire prevention, habitat protection, monitoring, and rapid response address different parts of the risk. Central Kalimantan’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency head Andi Muhammad Kadhafi said: “Fire prevention, habitat protection, monitoring and rapid response need to go hand in hand.” Prevention aims to reduce the chance of fire; monitoring helps identify changing conditions; and response can include moving animals where local circumstances make that necessary. The sources do not establish that any one action can prevent all wildlife harm.

Conservation organizations may maintain readiness at facilities and release sites and coordinate local responses. BOS Foundation’s September 2026 update describes such readiness alongside reported fire impacts and evacuations. The details matter: an evacuation is a response to a particular situation, not evidence that all animals should be moved whenever smoke is reported. Decisions depend on the animal, location, fire conditions, and available safe habitat.

More systematic monitoring would help answer questions that individual incidents cannot: how exposure varies across sites, how often animals are injured or displaced, whether observed behavioral changes persist, and how habitat changes affect animals over time. The 2018 Tuanan study specifically called for sustained research to assess the magnitude of the long-term threat. Its findings provide a reason to study smoke effects further, not a settled estimate of future population decline.

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What can—and cannot—be concluded

  • Fires can cause direct injury and can lead to rescue or death; Indonesian reports from 2026 document individual orangutan cases.
  • At Tuanan, four adult male orangutans showed behavioral and energetic changes across the 2015 smoke period. This is a small, site-specific study, not a species-wide estimate.
  • Fire can change habitat quality and food availability, and post-fire movement responses at Tuanan differed among individuals.
  • The evidence presented here does not quantify fire’s effects across all orangutan populations or provide comparable measurements for other wildlife groups.
  • Reported burned-area estimates must retain their source and time period, while rescue counts must not be treated as a count of all animals harmed.

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