The Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) is based in Medan, North Sumatra, and dedicated to the protection of forest and wildlife conservation, as well as sustainable agriculture. The organization helps to restore degraded forests, responds to incidents of human-orangutan conflict, conducts patrols, teaches awareness, and offers training for the community.

April 21, 2026

While Dr. Shafkat Khan is on a working trip to Indonesia, he is sending updates to us here at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium about his adventures and conservation work. He is visiting the Orangutan Information Centre, or the OIC, which is the Zoo’s partner in Sumatra.

Dr. Khan is getting a closer look at forest restoration and patrol work, and working to develop further collaboration between the Zoo and the OIC. One of the restoration areas that the Zoo is supporting is called Selamanya Hutan.

You can check out some of the photos he’s sending posted in the photo gallery below. One of the photos shows Rio Ardi, the OIC’s Restoration and Research Manager, showing Dr. Khan the seedlings they plant for forest work.

He will be sending updates as his trip continues, so keep checking back for more information and photos.

April 27, 2026

As part of his visit, Dr. Khan is collaborating with the OIC’s Sinan Serhadli to co-develop and co-lead a conservation planning workshop.

The OIC’s leadership and managers participated in the workshop to identify conservation goals in the three conservation landscapes in which OIC works in Sumatra. The hope is to put in place stronger, outcome-oriented action plans for the OIC’s team and ensure the two species of Orangutans’ habitats are conserved more effectively.

Check out Dr. Khan’s photos from the workshop in the photo gallery!

May 14, 2026

Dr. Khan visited the rehabilitation center managed by the Sumatra Rescue Alliance in Bukit Mas Sumatra. OIC’s founder, Panut Hadisiswoyo, accompanied Dr. Khan during the visit.

The SRA runs a nature school for surrounding villages. Students bring in tree seedlings every week as payment to the school. Besides Panut, Ms. Darsimah, the chairwoman of the school management foundation, and Mr. Zainuddin, the principal, gave Dr. Khan a tour of the school and offered him an overview of curricular activities.

The school shares the property with a wildlife rehabilitation center for orangutans and siamangs that have been confiscated. Siamangs are currently one of the most trafficked animals in southeast Asia. The center is working on releasing the siamangs to the wild after rehabilitation.

In addition, they are caring for three orangutan babies. The youngsters are learning how to climb and thrive in the forest after being separated from their mothers and illegally trafficked.

June 10, 2026

While in Bangladesh, Dr. Khan spent time working with the Creative Conservation Alliance (CCA), a partner of SAFE Gibbons. The SAFE programs are a project of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and stands for Saving Animals From Extinction.

The SAFE Gibbons group works with indigenous and local communities, the Bangladesh Forest Department, and private landowners to conserve wildlife in field locations within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Dr. Khan helped with conservation program assessments in a forest reserve in Southeast Bangladesh where the Mro people live. He also worked on a tea estate in Northeast Bangladesh where the owners are looking to combine biodiversity conservation and livelihoods. Both projects embody our conservation goals of supporting long-term ecological resilience via human-wildlife coexistence.