Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Gunung Leuser National Park (TNGL) Bahorok, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra Province in 1973-2015

Orangutans are endemic great apes in Indonesia and Malaysia, now limited to parts of Kalimantan and Sumatra. Their population continues to decline due to poaching, illegal trade, and deforestation, causing them to be classified as critically endangered by the IUCN. This research aims to describe the establishment and development of the Bahorok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center. The method used is historical research comprising heuristic, verification, interpretation, and historiography combined with a conservation ecology approach and field observations. Findings show the center was founded in 1973 by Swiss zoologists Regina Frey and Monica Borner to reintroduce confiscated orangutans into the wild. The center contributed to orangutan conservation, public awareness, and the protection of Gunung Leuser National Park. Although its function as a rehabilitation site ceased due to tourism pressures, it played a vital role in conservation and transformed Bahorok into a global ecotourism destination.