Orangutan Foundation International

Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of wild orangutans and their rainforest habitat. OFI also supports research on orangutans and forests, education initiatives, both local and international, and brings awareness concerning orangutans wherever it can. OFI is profoundly committed to the welfare of all orangutans, whether captive, ex-captive, or wild. Established by Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas and associates in 1986, OFI operates Camp Leakey, an orangutan research center, within Tanjung Puting National Park. OFI also runs the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) facility in the Dayak village of Pasir Panjang near Pangkalan Bun, which is home to 330 displaced orangutans, and helps manage the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, where rehabilitated wild born ex-captive orangutans were released into the wild. Through its field programs, OFI also provides employment at these facilities for over 200 local Indonesians. OFI also owns Rusti, an adult male orangutan rescued from a backyard zoo in New Jersey, now on permanent loan to the Honolulu Zoo in Hawaii. OFI built his magnificent enclosure which covers a good part of an acre. Orangutan Research and Conservation Project (ORCP) was the initial name of the program started in 1971 by Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas and her former husband, Rod Brindamour, in Tanjung Puting National Park (originally Tanjung Puting Reserve) in the province of Kalimantan Tengah (Central Indonesian Borneo). The purpose of the program was and continues to be the study of the behavior and ecology of wild orangutans as well as the conservation of wild orangutan populations and their rain forest habitat.Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) was initially established in 1986 to provide support for this program. Dr. Galdikas received her original moral support from Dr. Louis Leakey for whom she named her base camp (Camp Leakey). Louis Leakey also helped find funding for the program, first from the Wilkie Brothers Foundation, later from the Leakey Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Orangutan Foundation International has several missions: • Promote awareness of orangutans as a critically endangered species and as one of humankind’s closest living relatives in the animal kingdom. • Actively protect and help conserve wild orangutan populations and their tropical rain forest habitats. • Rescue and care for wild born ex-captive orangutans, rehabilitate, and release them to safe and secure sites in the wild. • Help captive orangutans lead healthy and contented lives with as much well-being as possible given their situation. • Conduct observational research on orangutans and their ecology in order to increase the understanding of them as populations and individuals. Furthermore, OFI promotes the dissemination of information about orangutans in order to galvanize the public towards an appreciation and respect for orangutans, and to increase awareness and understanding of the dire conservation crisis facing wild orangutan populations and their tropical rain forest habitats.