Bukit merah: At just one year old, Orked knows nothing of extinction, shrinking populations or the responsibility her tiny generation may one day carry. The youngest resident of Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island is one of 15 orangutans whose future could become far more significant than simply growing up within the sanctuary.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island Foundation sees Orked and those who come after her as potential members of a 50-strong 'assurance population.' This group could provide hope for repopulating the wild if a catastrophe were to devastate orangutans in their natural habitat. The foundation's adviser, Azmil Khuzaid Zakaria, emphasized the importance of this long-term plan, which could take 15 to 20 years to accomplish, as a safeguard against a potential collapse in the wild.

'The 50 orangutans are to essentially maintain that assurance population, meaning if there is any massive failure in the wild, this is enough to start repopulating (the wild). Of course, it will take decades,' Zakaria explained during a media familiarisation trip at Bukit Merah Laketown Resort on Sunday. The foundation's updated 2026 list shows its present residents comprise eight males and seven females, ranging from Orked, aged one, and two-year-old Aggy to long-time residents such as B.J., 40, Baboon, 39, and Ah Ling, 32.