Video: stitching head wound of rescued orangutan

Below is the video clip of our vet, Dr Wawan, stitching Melan's head wound for the second time.  It is quite gory so not for the faint-hearted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9hvrHDGcQs

This week Dr Wawan sent an update on Melan saying that her wound still looks wide, but there is tissue growth which is starting to cover the bone. Iodine, rivanol (antiseptic) and antibiotic powder will be applied until it is fully recovered. He is hopeful that it will heal.

Thank you for your support.

Orangutan Foundation

New enclosure for blind orangutan, Aan

We are pleased to report that blind orangutan, Aan, has a new enclosure. It allows her greater freedom of movement and more sunlight gets through, which reduces the dampness and make it fresher. We would like to thank everyone who donated in response to Aan’s incredible survival story.

Aan remains scared of humans and she tried to bite one of our staff as they tried to transfer her to her new cage. Therefore, she had to be sedated to minimize her stress and the risk of injury to our staff.

Once considered safe, the vet took the opportunity to have Aan weighed. She is now 26 kg and so she has gained 1 kg seen her rescue.

Aan was still sedated as she was placed into the new cage on a shelf covered with leaves as bedding. Within a few moments of waking up, she started playing and eating.

Our staff regard Aan as a clever orangutan. She is surviving well by relying on her senses of hearing and taste. She is still selective about food. If given fruit which is a bit past its best or maybe sour, Aan will rejected it or even throw it away.

Please help with a donation to help us care for Aan.

Thank you for your support.

Orangutan Foundation

Update on Aan, orangutan who was shot over 100 times.

Dr Fikri has sent the update below on how Aan, the female orangutan who was shot over 100 times, is recovering. Aan has been living in a temporary enclosure in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve. We are currently building a permanent and larger enclosure for her. However, we still have meet the costs of her day to day care and we need to secure additional funds to assist us with this. Please consider a donation to help us (click here to donate). Update from Dr Fikri

'In general, Aan's health has improved. She is always on the move and loves playing with the ropes and tyres in her cage. She rarely goes down to the floor of the cage, especially if there are other orangutans outside or in the evening when pigs might come near the cage.

When camp staff have to enter the cage to clean it, Aan always moves away to the far corner. She often moves by holding the walls of the cage so the camp staff think she looks like Spiderman.

Aan is totally blind having lost her sight to air gun pellets that were fired at her. Despite having several pellet still lodged in her ears, thankfully Aan can hear. In fact as she suffered blindness, the ability to hear seems better and tends to be more sensitive than other healthy orangutans. Therefore, for now, we have decided not to undertake further surgery to remove the pellets.

When feeding, the camp staff will call her name while sometimes knocking the cage wall to encourage Aan to come closer. Unlike the other orangutans, Aan is very picky about food. She often leaves unripe or less mature fruit. If the fruit given is ripe, Aan will definitely eat it. She really likes mango and pineapple. If both fruits are available, Aan will not eat bananas instead she will throw them away.'

On behalf of everybody at the Orangutan Foundation I would like to thank you for your support this year.

Season’s greetings,

Ashley

Ashley Leiman (Founder and Director Orangutan Foundation)

Another wild adult male orangutan rescued

Our Orangutan Veterinary and Rescue Team managed to rescue another wild orangutan yesterday from the village of  Pendulangan, which is close to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia Borneo.

We were already aware of the presence of the adult male orangutan because the village had seen it hanging around, stealing fruit from their trees and on one occasion it even wandered into the village's kindergarten.  Fortunately, we have a good relationship with the village and we worked with them to try to live side by side with the orangutan. However, it became clear the orangutan was becoming more troublesome and the villagers could no longer tolerate the situation.

The orangutan proved tricky to capture as he climbed up into the tree tops. It was made more complicated because he was so close to the village - we had to avoid injury to both ape and humans.  Eventually, he was darted and after being weighed he was taken directly to the offices of BKSDA. Our vet, Dr Fikri, is examining him today and all being well hopefully he can be translocated to the Reserve in the next day or so.

We will keep you updated on his progress.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

It’s Orangutan Awareness Week! Show your support by becoming a member or by making a donation.

Clouded leopard cub back in his natural habitat

Last month we blogged about a clouded leopard cub that was rescued at the end of April.

We are happy to tell you he is doing very well.  It was touch and go when he was first rescued and we thought he had a problem with his hind legs.  The leopard, who is now about 4 months old,  is healthy, active and playful and has put on a kilo since he was found.  The villagers, who discovered the cub named him Bombom and we have kept that name as it seems to suit him.

Pak Tigor, the manager of our activities in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, arranged to have a temporary enclosure built for the cub.  It is at Camp Gemini where we also have a small vet clinic.

Above and below - Bombom, being transferred to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve by speedboat

The enclosure not only gives him space to play but also allows him to get re-united with his natural surroundings. As soon as Bombom was in his enclosure he ran about and climbed all over it. Clouded leopards are thought to be predominantly nocturnal and so a member of the camp's staff has been assigned to keep an eye on him at night.

Photos above and below - Bombom in his new temporary enclosure

Photo above - a playful Bombom

We hope to bring you more news on Bombom soon but in the meantime please consider a donation to support our vital work in Borneo.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

New baby orangutan born in Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve

Dr Fikri, our vet, gave us a lovely surprise when he reported about the birth of an orangutan in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, in March.

The mother orangutan, Tiffany, was observed at  Camp JL, an orangutan release camp run by the Orangutan Foundation.  Staff tried to determine the sex of the new born but Tiffany was very protective of her son and fled when approached by field staff.  On one occasion the staff managed to see that the sex of the baby is male.  Up to now both Tiffany and her new baby are healthy and well.

Enjoy the pics!

Please help us to keep these orangutans save by supporting our Habitat Protection Guard Post Appeal

Fire Fighting - Just a Duty or Dedication?

Last week the Central Kalimantan Agency for Conservation of Natural Resources (BKSDA) held motivation training sessions for their Forest Fire Brigade. They asked Orangutan Foundation staff to facilitate with this after the dedication they showed when tackling the recent fires that broke out in Sungai Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Pak Eko Novi, the Head of BKSDA SKW II Kalimantan Tengah, awarded a Manggala Agni (Forest Fire Brigade) Pin, to our staff at Danau Burung Post (Bird Lake Guard Post) because of their dedication and participation in tackling the fires.

Isam represented other KPEL (Partnership for Local Economic Development) staff (Sias, Amat, Fendy, Aris dan Jakir) at the award ceremony. It is hoped the award will help motivate other staff, BKSDA staff and the local community to have more responsibility and participation concerning the conservation of the Sungai Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

At last week's training session we aimed to build team cohesion and lift the spirits of the Forest Fire Brigade. We hope it will instill a sense of honour and the brigade will feel proud about their duties and their job. Fire fighting is not just a “job” but is “dedication” for nature conservation.

Pak Hudi leading the motivation and team building session.

The team building and motivation sessions included various games:

Carry a Bomb. Each team must carry a bottle (as a bomb) with limited tools from one place to a target. The aim is to encourage teamwork, strategy, and role distribution within the team.

Courier. Each team must deliver a message (a stick) from one place to another place only using their neck’s. This game has aim to build team work, strategy and the “quick think” response.

O-O Game. A pair of participants must save themselves from plastic rope that binds their hands. This game has the aim to build problem solving strategy.

Thank you,

Pak Hudi

Programme Coordinator, Orangutan Foundation UK

Orangutan gaining weight

Dr. Fikri, our new vet who works specifically for the released orangutans in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, put orangutan Zidane on a special weight gain diet last month. We are happy to tell you that Zidane has gained 3 kg and he is getting stronger each day. Our on-going protection for Lamandau continues with regular patrols, and this month, the patrol team led by Pak Jak (Patrol Manager of Lamandau Ecosystem Conservation Partnership) installed billboards on all the Lamandau guard posts to help enforce no-burning in the Reserve. (This short update was sent by June Rubis, who is taking over from Stephen this month)

Matthew K, thanks as always for your monthly donation.

Many thanks,

Cathy - Orangutan Foundation

An evening walk in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve

“Hey Jak” I called over my shoulder “Are you following me or the path?”. “Following you” Jak replied.

Not good.

I wasn’t leading; I was merely walking in front. For the last 100 odd metres I’d become increasingly convinced we’d left the path and were following a pig’s trail through the forest. It was 5pm. It would be dark in an hour. We were both soaked to the skin and had been walking in ankle deep water for the last twenty minutes, as a result of the afternoon downpour. And a 100 metres may not sound much but given I wasn’t sure of the exact distance our chances of back-tracking weren’t promising.

I remembered there was a tree with unusually large leaves where the proper trail re-entered the forest after crossing the open bit where we were now standing. Jak’s face was a picture when I said “look for a tree with big leaves”. In a forest, right… good idea.

(Example of the forest terrain, without the water!)

Still, I had my revenge. Jak got out his GPS which told us accurately where we were on the earth’s surface and it even told us it was only 2.9km to the guard post. Did it, however, tell us where the path was? The path that would enable us to get through the forest and to the post before nightfall? The path that I had been unable to follow in daylight let alone pitch blackness?

I wanted to turn east along the forest edge, Jak opted for north-west. As I had got us into this mess I decided not to argue and to follow him. Of course, he was right. Consequently, I was secretly delighted when he failed to notice the tree with big leaves and I could call out “here it is” as we crossed the right track.

That was Tuesday evening. We were in the field until Friday…last week was a long one!