Rare blue-eyed albino orangutan to be named by public in competition

The five-year-old orangutan was held captive in a cage before her rescue.

Pictures of the week — A rare five-year-old female albino orangutan was rescued from captivity BOSF/Indrayana/Reuters

An albino orangutan rescued from a remote village in the Indonesian part of Borneo is to be named in a public competition.

Indonesian conservation group Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation opened a naming contest for the animal.

The orangutan is estimated to be five-years-old and has pale hair and striking blue eyes. She was held captive for two days in a cage by villagers in the Kapuas Hulu sub-district, located in Central Kalimantan province.

Borneo's orangutan populations have declined by more than half over the past 60 years and they are critically endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

"A preliminary physical examination conducted by our medical team has determined this is an albino orangutan: her hair, eye, and skin colour is paler than normal, and she is also sensitive to light," the BOSF said on its website.

BOSF spokesman Nico Hermanu told AFP that orangutans are rare but albino orangutans are even rarer.

"Since BOSF was founded 25 years ago, we had never before taken in an albino orangutan at our rehabilitation centre," he said.