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Dozens of orangutans rescued as Indonesian fires blanket Southeast Asia

Conservation teams have evacuated at least 51 orangutans in West Kalimantan since August as the region's worst haze in a decade closes schools and disrupts thousands of flights.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 18 Oct 2026, 12:02

A Bornean orangutan in Kalimantan, Indonesia (file photo). Conservation teams have evacuated dozens of orangutans from fires in the province since August 2026. Photo: Ridwan0810 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Ridwan0810, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Conservation teams in Indonesia have rescued dozens of critically endangered orangutans in recent weeks as wildfires burn across Borneo and Sumatra and send toxic haze across Southeast Asia.

The West Kalimantan conservation agency and the Indonesian non-profit YIARI said a team evacuated 51 orangutans from sites in the province between 6 August and 19 October. Figures from Indonesia's forestry ministry suggested the number rescued in Kalimantan in recent months could be as high as 96, though officials could not immediately clarify the total.

The latest rescue came on Saturday, when three conservation agencies evacuated a 20-year-old male orangutan in Hampangen village in Central Kalimantan, on Borneo. The agencies said the animal was sedated, given a medical examination and taken to a rehabilitation centre.

The fires have produced a months-long pollution spell that has closed schools, driven up respiratory illness in people and animals, and restricted outdoor activity in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor.

Air-quality monitors again ranked Singapore and Kuala Lumpur among the world's five most polluted major cities on Sunday. The BBC reported this month that Indonesia is having its worst wildfire season in a decade, with more than a million fire hotspots recorded and about 900,000 hectares burned, worsened by an unusually strong El Nino.

Indonesian authorities have suspended the operating licences of 26 companies linked to the fires and opened investigations into others, and President Prabowo Subianto has called slash-and-burn clearing 'ecological terrorism'. Greenpeace has named plantation firms based in Singapore and Malaysia that it links to burning land in Indonesia; the companies deny using fire.

Indonesia's transport ministry said about 2,400 flights have been affected by the haze since mid-August. 'Haze reduces visibility around airports, which can lead to delays, disruptions, and even flight cancellations,' it said, adding that safety comes first in every operational decision.

Malaysia's Johor state has extended school closures, and Singapore's air quality stayed unhealthy to very unhealthy over the weekend. Indonesia has used weather modification, dropping tonnes of dry ice over Sumatra, to try to break up the haze.

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Ginger and garlic prices jump in Dhaka as vegetable costs stay high

Ginger rose by Tk50-60 a kilogram in two days in the capital's kitchen markets, with onions, garlic and most vegetables also climbing while eggs eased slightly.

ScrollBeat Desk18 Oct 2026, 13:04Open this article

A vegetable shop in Dhaka. Ginger, onion, garlic and most vegetables have become more expensive in the capital's kitchen markets, while egg prices have eased slightly. Photo: Yahya / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ginger prices in Dhaka's kitchen markets jumped by Tk50-60 a kilogram in two days, with Chinese ginger selling for about Tk190 a kilogram at markets in Hatirpool, New Market and Lalbagh on 16 October, up from Tk130-140 the previous Wednesday, according to market surveys by The Business Standard.

Onions were selling for about Tk60 a kilogram and local garlic for about Tk100, The Business Standard reported. A separate survey by The Daily Star at Karwan Bazar found wholesale onion prices up by Tk4 a kilogram to Tk48-52, and ginger and garlic up by Tk20-30 a kilogram in a week.

Most vegetables, except papaya and pumpkin, cost Tk80 a kilogram or more. Tomatoes reached Tk180-200 a kilogram and beans Tk160, while traders said supplies of early winter vegetables were still too small to bring prices down.

Egg prices, which had reached about Tk160 a dozen two weeks earlier, eased to Tk145-150. Poultry prices were broadly steady, but beef sold for about Tk800 a kilogram and mutton for Tk1,250.

Traders blamed higher transport and input costs for pushing up wholesale prices, and shoppers said they were buying smaller quantities to manage household budgets. Bangladesh has faced persistent food inflation for months, with essentials climbing after recent floods damaged crops in dozens of districts.

NEXT STORY World

Saudi-led coalition reports helicopter crash in Najran as Houthis claim a shootdown

The coalition said an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter came down with a technical fault, killing two officers. A Houthi spokesman said the group shot down a Saudi Apache.

ScrollBeat Desk18 Oct 2026, 13:04Open this article

A US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter in flight over Alaska in 2019, in a file photo. Saudi Arabia operates Apache helicopters; a Houthi spokesman said the group shot down a Saudi Apache near Najran, while the Saudi-led coalition said a National Guard AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed with a technical fault. Photo: CW2 Cameron Roxberry / U.S. Army (public domain)

The Saudi-led coalition said on 18 October that a Saudi National Guard reconnaissance helicopter crashed in the Najran region near the border with Yemen because of a technical malfunction, killing its two-officer crew.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the AH-6i helicopter came down inside Saudi territory. The official Saudi Press Agency carried his statement.

The crash was reported a day after the Houthis' military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a post on X that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran while it was carrying out what he called hostile operations against Houthi positions along the border. Saree gave no details of the weapon, the crew or the exact location.

Al-Maliki rejected that account. He replied to Saree's post with a photo of several Apache helicopters lined up, saying: "You claim to have shot it down, but it will enter the battlefield soon."

The two sides described different aircraft types, and it was not clear that they were referring to the same helicopter.

Najran, in south-western Saudi Arabia on the Yemen border, has come under repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks in recent weeks as fighting has escalated. The coalition also said it intercepted two ballistic missiles fired towards Khamis Mushait and a drone over the Riyadh region.