A Sumatran orangutan who spent nearly two years in care in India has returned to Indonesia, where a local rehabilitation team will take over the next stage of his recovery.
The male orangutan, once known as Rocky and now named Heera, was repatriated from India to Indonesia on Oct. 19, Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry said. The Indian Express separately reported his arrival in Indonesia; Mongabay-India’s Oct. 19 report described the planned flight and rehabilitation path. He is expected to continue receiving care at the Sumatran Rescue Alliance, a rehabilitation center in Langkat, North Sumatra.
For Heera, the return closes one part of a long journey and opens another. The next goal is not to put him into the forest quickly. It is to give him time, care and careful assessment so specialists can understand what he needs.
Indian authorities rescued him on Nov. 12, 2024, from an apartment in Thane district near Mumbai, the ministry said. The ministry identified him as a victim of cross-border illegal wildlife trade. The Indian Express reported that he first received care at Gorewada Zoo before moving to a specialist center in Gujarat.
In March 2025, Heera moved to the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, also known as Vantara, in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The Indian Express reported that a wildlife warden ordered the transfer after a Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee said continued care at the local zoo might not be suitable.
The ministry says Heera will receive ongoing care, health monitoring and rehabilitation at the Sumatran Rescue Alliance facility in Bukit Mas, Langkat, which is run by the Centre for Orangutan Protection. There, the team will assess how he moves, climbs, finds food and adjusts to an environment suited to orangutans. Those abilities are part of learning whether an animal may be able to live more independently later.
That possibility remains for the future. The ministry says release would be considered only after assessments of Heera’s health, behavior and conservation requirements. Repatriation brought him back to his country of origin; it did not return him to the wild.
The transfer also brought together agencies and conservation groups in two countries. Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry and Foreign Ministry, its Consulate General in Mumbai, Indian government authorities, India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Vantara coordinated the return, according to the ministry. The Centre for Orangutan Protection and Fauna Land Indonesia also supported the process. The ministry also tied this return to work beyond one animal: rehabilitation, wildlife-law enforcement and protection of orangutan habitat. That broader task sits alongside the specific decisions the team now has to make for Heera.
India Today, citing the Press Trust of India and an Indian Embassy statement, reported that the Indian government waived the costs of Heera’s care and maintenance before the repatriation. The same report says CITES management authorities in both countries coordinated the transfer under required procedures.
Mongabay-India’s Oct. 19 report said the process had been delayed by procedural hurdles and Heera’s poor health, citing a CITES authority overseeing the operation in India. It also quoted SRA adviser Sinan Serhadli, who said Heera is expected to spend a designated quarantine period before entering a jungle school. There, he could develop social and survival skills and interact with other orangutans. Those are planned steps, not confirmation that he has entered the facility. Serhadli said a release in about four years was possible if the plan goes well; that is his estimate, not a ministry timetable.
The ministry said Heera’s new name was suggested by India’s Anant Ambani. “Heera” means diamond, and the ministry presented the name as a wish for him to have a chance to recover and live better. The name is a small detail in a much larger transition, but it reflects the hope shared by the people who helped bring him home.
Heera’s return is a hopeful step because the next decisions now sit with a team in Sumatra that can monitor his needs. Whether he can one day live independently remains open; for now, his next stage is care and assessment.
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