Having told you about Zidane, I thought you might be interested to learn a little about the people who are looking after him day to day. He and twelve other orangutans live around Camp Buluh which is supported by the Australian Orangutan Project and is one of six orangutan release camps the Orangutan Foundation operates in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Six people are employed there; five field assistants and a cook. Their daily duties at Camp include preparing food and feeding the orangutans twice a day, monitoring the orangutans, keeping records, clearing trails, clearing the river and other camp tasks. Camp Buluh, like all the other Camps, comprises a kitchen and dining hall, sleeping block and toilet/washroom. Unlike the other camps though, Camp Buluh is totally surrounded by swamps. There is no dry ground anywhere near by. This does make following the orangutans difficult and especially so last year when there was no noticeable dry-season. Water levels varied from knee to waist deep for most of the year!

The team at Camp Buluh

The Field Assistants generally spend 26 days at a time at Camp. Back in November (Bringing the office to our orangutan release camps) all the staff were enrolled in the Government's Health Insurance scheme which provides cover to both them and their families.

Huge thanks to the Camp Buluh team who do a fantastic job.