Mobile app won't leave orangutans swinging

Non-profit group Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia is preparing to launch a mobile app designed to engage with and seek donations from Australian smartphone users.

The free app will launch in early October, ahead of Orangutan Caring Week (10-16 November).

It will allow iPhone and Android users to make secure donations of at least $10 and to ‘adopt’ baby orangutans for as little as $12 a month.

It will include video and text updates of BOS Australia’s activities and information about Australian BOS ambassadors including Offspring’s Linda Cropper, The Project’s Gorgi Coghlan and Triple J’s Lindsay McDougall.

BOS pairs rescued orangutans with surrogate human mothers for up to six years to help teach them the life skills needed to survive in the wild.

The group has helped return 89 orangutans to Borneo’s protected Kehje Forest to date and hopes the app will help secure the funds needed to release a total of 170 back to the jungle by the end of 2013.

“As our dedicated team in Borneo work around the clock to care for orphaned orangutans ... our new app will give animal lovers at home an opportunity to become even more involved in the progress of these beautiful animals in our rehabilitation centres and protected sanctuaries,” BOS Australia President Tony Gilding said.

Image courtesy of Daniel Kleeman under CC