Orangutan Island is an American documentary television series, in the style of the earlier series Meerkat Manor, that blends more traditional documentary filming with dramatic narration.
The series premiered on Animal Planet on November 2, 2007, with new episodes airing Friday nights.
The show focuses on a group of orphaned orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Center that are raised to go against their normally independent nature and instead cooperate and live together in a society so they can be left to live wild on their protected island.
[3] Anne Russon, a psychologist who has conducted extensive research in primate intelligence is acting as a scientific adviser for the series.
Lone Drøscher Nielsen is the founder and project manager of the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue and Reintroduction Center and regularly appears in the show interacting with and caring for the orangutan orphans.