For some animals, as soon they’re born, they’re ready to explore the wild on their own. For orangutans though, their home in the tropical rainforest is full of potential hazards and often limited sources of food. They consequently must observe and learn from the teachings of their mother before they can be truly independent. This is a complicated process however, and can take 6-8 years for an orangutan to be fully prepared, longer than any other species in the animal kingdom.
Therefore, to be separated from their mother and kept alone as a pet in a cage genuinely holds back the development of a young great ape. Sadly this is how Satria’s life began, until 2017 when the two-and-a-half year old was rescued from captivity and taken to the forest for the very first time!
In Orangutan Foundation’s soft-release programme within the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, Satria could finally know what it was like to climb a tree and interact with other orangutans. At Camp Rasak alongside fellow orphan Endut, Satria was taken out into the surrounding habitat every day and gradually built up his range of forest skills. He took to climbing like a duck to water, and would often be seen playing with some of the younger wild great apes in the forest, but it would take him a few years to master the most complex orangutan talent- nest-building.
Our staff would take Satria to varying parts of the forest to familiarise him with different areas, and slowly but surely, he perfected the art of building a sturdy overnight nest in the trees. To ease his way into the wilder side, our team then supervised Satria as he spent a night or two in the forest independently. Building up the familiarity with sleeping in a nest he’d built was visibly helping his development, and this month Satria spent five nights in the forest surrounding camp on his own. A big milestone for a young orangutan but he took it in his stride, and it was clear that he was now ready to be released.
Following a final medical check-up from our vet and a negative test for COVID-19, Satria had made it. The time had finally come for him to leave camp for good and become entirely independent!
Satria receives a final check-up and COVID test from our vet before being ready for release
Now a fully-fledged young adult, Satria weighs 30kg. It was therefore a tiring 1km walk for our team and local government staff from BKSDA to carry Satria through the forest to his specially chosen release site. In the presence of Orangutan Foundation Founder and Director/Trustee Ashley Leiman OBE, Satria’s travel crate was eagerly opened and he quickly rushed out onto a nearby tree.
In a somewhat nervy start which saw him clambering over his travel crate, Satria seemed more interested in the group that had gathered to see him off, and it was only once everyone had dispersed that he decided to climb up into the trees to explore his new patch of forest. All his preparation had led to this moment and at last he’d graduated from our soft-release programme!
For at least 10 days after his release, our monitoring team will continue to observe Satria’s progress from afar. Already we’re delighted to see that he’s beginning to establish himself in the population of over 600 orangutans in this Reserve, and who knows, in the future we may see Satria become an impressive dominant male orangutan in the forest. For our team, there could be no greater reward!
