Rehabilitating orphaned orangutans from deforestation requires 7-10 years of intensive care and skill-building before release, making each rehabilitation a major welfare and conservation investment.
The welfare of rehabilitating orangutans involves both meeting their immediate needs and preparing them for the complexity of wild forest life. Surrogate mothers and peer groups provide the social learning environment that would naturally come from their biological mothers. The welfare cost of the trauma that brought them to rehabilitation - witnessing maternal death, smoke inhalation from forest fires - requires patient recovery time. The ultimate welfare outcome - successful life in a functioning forest - justifies the intensive years-long investment, but only if adequate release habitat is available.