Male Bornean Orangutan Rescued

Orangutan Awareness and Orangutan Freedom On Wednesday 11 November 2009, the rescue team from Section II Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan and Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ-OFI) rescued one big male orangutan from Tanjung Putri, a local village. The orangutan was 183 cms tall, weighed approx 80 kg and was about 20 years old.  Mr. Eko Novi (The head of section II of the  Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan) gave him the name “Jejawi”.

 

Jejawi being transferred to the speedboat

Orangutan is transferred by speedboat.

 

 

 

Mr. Eko Novi coordinated with Tigor, the Reintroduction Manager of Orangutan Foundation, for the translocation process. After medical observation by Dr Popo (OCCQ-OFI Vet) and Dr Fiqri (Lamandau Vet of Orangutan Foundation), on Friday 13th , Jejawi (the orangutan) was successfully translocated to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, the same place where Bruno, the sun bear, was released.

Mr. Eko Novi said this is a good moment to participate in Pekan Peduli Orangutan (Orangutan Awareness Week) with real action to help the orangutan to get a new life in safe habitat.  

When the door of the transporter cage was opened, Jejawi immediately move out from the cage, he looked around for a second and then with fantastic speed, moved and reached the branch, he climbed the trees, and then moved to other trees, climbing until reaching the canopy.  We hope Jejawi is now free for a better and safer life in the Lamandau reserve.

 

 

Back in the trees, hard to see - as orangutans should be! 

The Orangutan translocation story was already published in Metro TV (the Indonesian television station) for News Program, and published in Borneo News (Central Kalimantan news paper) to encourage orangutan conservation awareness.

Thank you,

Hudi WD

Programme Coordinator

Please support our 'Protect Me and My Tree Appeal' - keep these orangutans in forest where they deserve to be.

Orangutan Adoption Diary - Brian and Rosa’s growing bond

The adoption of infant orangutan Brian by female orangutan Rosa is progressing well - they are much closer and there is more playing and jesting. Brian's holding Rosa hand more frequently and even hugging Rosa. 

Brian and Rosa - © Orangutan Foundation

When tired of playing and jesting, Brian climbs and hangs about the cage, and Rosa jiggles the cage or lies about.

Brian and Rosa - interacting. © Orangutan Foundation

After Brian's contented with playing and hanging he moves close to Rosa, strokes her, then pulls Rosa's hair until it hurts her and she responsds by pulling Brian's hand, slowly and carefully. Brian then bites Rosa's hand, after which he runs and climbs over to the opposite corner. Brian repeats the same behaviour several times. It seems as though Brian is using this to make closer with his “new Mom”.

 Brian heckling Rosa © Orangutan Foundation

Brian has adapted to his new environment and situation. He knows when it's feeding time and the Camp staff start preparing fruit and milk.

Feeding time © Orangutan Foundation

When Rosa and Brian are given fruit, Brian always heckles Rosa and takes her fruit. Rosa is wise and very patient and shares the fruit with Brian.

Brian and Rosa -sharing fruit. © Orangutan Foundation

They seem to have developed a very strong bond and we are planning on letting Brian and Rosa out of their cage this week.

Thank you,

Dr Fiqri (Vet of Lamandau Orangutan Release Programme).

Please support our 'Protect Me and My Tree Appeal' -to help keep the orangutans in Lamandau free.

Orangutan Rescued From Oil Palm Plantation

Last Sunday the Orangutan Foundation responded to reports of a young female orangutan isolated in a tree in an oil palm plantation.

 

The young  female orangutan climbed the fig tree when we arrived in the oil palm plantation area at Pandu senjaya village, Pangkalan Lada.

Uduk and Yatno  climbed the tree, but the orangutan moved to the top of the tree. At 17.30 the orangutan made the third nest and prepared to sleep. It started to get dark, so Uduk climbed down from the tree. We decided to stop the rescue and drove back to Pangkalan Bun. A labourer from the oil palm plantation stayed and watched the orangutan during the night.

The next day at 05.00 Dr Fiqri, the Vet of Orangutan Foundation's Reintroduction Programme arrived and the orangutan was still in the tree. The labourer had started work that made the orangutan scared to come down.

The plantation labourer moved to a different area and the orangutan began to climb down. Dr Fiqri tried to catch her but she was very fast and moved to another tree, climbing right to the top.

The second rescue team arrived at 08.00, started to moved in on the second tree where the orangutan was.

At 10.00 the orangutan climbed down and the rescue team succeeded to catch her with a net.

Dr Fiqri immediately checked the orangutan and he found worms in the orangutan's faeces but on a whole the orangutan was in good condition.

The young  female orangutan inside the transportation cage.

We then had to carefully transfer the cage to the truck.

The young female orangutan on the back of the truck with Dr Fiqri always keeping a close eye on the whole translocation process for safe and good handling.

The young  female orangutan's view as she leaves the oil palm plantation. She will be freed in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, a safer and healthier habitat, after she has received treatment for the worms in the Orangutan care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) facility.

Dr Fiqri said approximately 3 or 4 days after treatment the female orangutan is ready to be translocated to the reserve where she will be monitored and protected. Please make a donation today to support our work in the Lamandau reserve - these orangutans deserve a life in the forest and the forests deserve orangutans.

Special thanks  go to; Eko Novi, the head of of Section II Nature Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan; Haryo, who gave the information about the young  female orangutan in the oil palm plantation; Sia and Polis (OCCQ  Staff) for good collaboration rescue ; Tigor (Orangutan Reintroduction Manager), Uduk (Orangutan Reintroduction Camp Coordinator), Fiqri (Orangutan Reintroduction Vet) and Yatno (Orangutan Reintroduction Driver) for the good work and dedication.

Thank you,

Hudi W Dewe

Orangutan Foundation - Programme Co-ordinator

Orangutan Adoption Diary -Brian’s future is looking Rosy

Brian Diary, October 27^th 2009 by Hudi WD I am pleased to tell you that the adoption process between the female Bornean orangutan, Rosa and the infant orangutan, Brian is going very well.

 

Brian was confiscated from an oil palm plantation and was taken to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve where he was introduced to adult female orangutan Rosa (see post A Wild Life). Rosa immediately took to Brian, but Brian was a little bit nervous with the whole process.

Now Brian is looking healthy, really cool and smart! He is very active to move and play inside the adoption cage (Rosa and Brian are in cage just temporarily to help the adoption process).

 

Some times Brian is swinging in the cage and sometimes he reaches to Rosa if he needs attention from her.

 

Tigor (the Lamandau Orangutan Reintroduction Manager) said Brian has the real “wild instinct” and he will grow to be a leader. Brian has started to become closer to Rosa and this was shown when Utang (staff from Camp Siswoyo) tried to hold Rosa's hand, Brian moved and tried to pull Rosa's hand away. 

He has also started to imitate Rosa's behaviour. He is very smart and really funny when he moved and copied just like Rosa did.

 

Dr Fiqri (the Lamandau Orangutan Reintroduction Vet) said the adoption process was in good progress and in approximately 10 to 15 days he hopes Rosa and Brian will be returned to Camp Gemini and living free out of the cage, we hope it will be done as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Hudi WD

Programme Co-ordinator -Orangutan Foundation

Orangutan photos and thanks for the digital cameras!

Huge thanks to Rachel and Kees for donating and personally delivering two digital cameras and err...some fudge (very tasty!). The cameras are now being used in Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve by Dr Fikri, our vet and Mr Tigor, Manager of Orangutan Re-introduction Programme (see photos below of orangutan Lady Di and her infant).  From left to right: Dr Fiqri (vet), Rees, Pak Uduk (helps to manage the orangutan release camps) and Rachel.  

Bornean female orangutan, Lady Di with bandaged arm.

A mother's love - Lady Di and her infant

Lady Di with bandage removed from her arm -now fully recovered and roaming free

Thanks,

June

 p/s  lighting actually struck the office the other day, luckily we had our plugs pulled at that time. Terrible rainstorm which means less computer productivity but on the bright side it lessens the risk of forest fires.

Lamandau’s orangutans -a healthy growing population!

Thanks for your recent questions and sorry for the slow reponse! News straight from the field is that Lady Di is healthy and is well enough to be released this Saturday!  I visited her last week and took these pictures.

Borneo female orangutan -Lady Di and infant (photo:Orangutan Foundation) 

 

Dr Fikri and the camp staff have taken really good care of Lady Di and while she has had to spend nights in a cage so that she doesn't go off and cause further damage to herself, the staff let her out during the day and they keep a close watch on her! 

Regarding who is the father of Sawit's offspring. We know that it's a wild male, but he doesn't stay around camp. Dr Fiqri is delighted to report that Sawit has given birth to a healthy baby girl (Sawit was more pregnant than we suspected!). Our Field Assistants are looking for name suggestions for Sawit's new infant. It has to start with S and to be Indonesian. Please leave suggestions as a comments.

Thanks,

June

Programmes Manager

Newborn Orangutan - Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve

July is a month which makes those of us working in Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve happy because one orangutan has been born. Dedek, gave birth to a son and this is her second son after Delon. Based on information from staff in Camp JL, Dedek gave birth on July 10, 2009. Camp JL staff first saw Dedek, with her son, under the feeding platform around 3pm.

Dedek and her newborn son born on July 10th 2009. Photo:Orangutan Foundation

Dedek's son looks well. We estimated that Dedek gave birth during the day because in the morning Dedek still came to feeding platform.

Newborn male orangutan.  Photo: Orangutan Foundation

Before Dedek was pregnant and during pregnancy she always played with Jalas, dominant male orangutan in JL Camp. Dedek never plays with other males only Jalas. Other male orangutans are afraid of Jalas. So we predict that Dedek’s son is Jalas’s son. Dedek and her son are well . Dedek was released in October 2002 at Camp JL. Camp staff have not decided on a name yet but it is likely to be Indonesian and staring with "D"!

Please support our work protecting these orangutans and their forest home helping to ensure they spend the rest of their life in the wild.

Thank you Tal B, Brigitta S and Matthew K for your monthly donations.

Thank you,

Dr Fiqri

Orangutan’s Broken Arm

On the 19th of May, 2009, the staff of Camp Rusak, Lamandau Wildlife Reserve noticed something funny about one of the orangutans in their area – Lady Di seemed to be dragging her arm, and not using it at all. They were very concerned, particularly since she is still caring for her young infant, and so immediately informed our vet via radio call. When Dr. Fiqri arrived, Lady Di went up to him, as if to say, “I have a broken arm, could you please fix it?” She then clambered voluntarily onto his back for the walk back to the Camp.

Lady Di and her infant in a holding cage, Camp Rusak. Note her left arm hanging down. Photo Orangutan Foundation.

Indeed her left arm was broken, and Dr. Fiqri initially tried to keep the arm in place with plaster.

Lady Di and her infant, Camp Rusak, Lamandau. Photo: Orangutan Foundation

However Lady Di had other plans for the plaster. Dr. Fiqri had a shock when he saw Lady Di later with bits of plasters all over her mouth, thinking that she was foaming at the mouth!

It was clear that they needed to get her arm x-rayed to ascertain the damage. Lady Di was taken into the Pangkalan Bun hospital, x-rayed, and under Dr. Fiqri’s supervision, later had her arm bandaged.

Pak Dian, Camp Rusak Manager (in blue), reassuring Lady Di. Photo:Orangutan Foundation

Lady Di at Pangkalan Bun hospital for an x-ray of her arm. Camp Rusak manager, Pak Dian and camp assistant with her. Photo: Orangutan Foundation

She was then brought back to Camp Rusak, where our staff are keeping an attentive watch on her.

It is likely that she had broken her arm by grabbing a branch that was not strong enough for her weight. Indeed she had some superficial cuts on her forehead that possibly supports this hypothesis. Thankfully, her infant was not harmed in any way, and aside from a broken arm that is well on the mend, Lady Di is doing very well.

Help us to look after these orangutans – please contribute anyway you can via Wildlife Direct. Thank you so much!

June

Programmes Manager

Lamandau’s orangutans - meet Amoi and her adopted son, Richard.

Amoi, female Bornean orangutan, was released into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve at Camp Siswoyo on July 14 2004. Recently Amoi is found in the vicinity of Camp Gemini, with her adopted son, Richard. Perhaps Amoi fancied a change of scenery or different companions! Amoi has a very tame nature and when the Camp staff order her to leave camp and go to the forest, Amoi replies with a sound similar to a man crying “hink….hink…hink…”.

Amoi and her adopted son, Richard.

Last year Amoi “adopted” a three-year-old male orangutan called Richard. Richard’s mother Ruta died in February 2008. Camp staff tried to find an appropriate mother for Richard and the job fell to Amoi. Initially Amoi rejected Richard but the camp staff continued to present Richard to Amoi and eventually Amoi accepted him. Since March 2008 she has become his new mother.

Thank you,

Dr Fiqri

Thank you Gemini Foundation!

Below are some photos of Dr Fiqri, our Lamandau vet, receiving the medicines funded by The Gemini Foundation.

Dr Fiqri sorting through the newly received medicines. Our veterinary programme in Lamandau is kindly supported by The Gemini Foundation.

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

Getting To Know Some Real Orangutan Characters!

Newman the orangutan was released at Camp Siswoyo however he currently prefers to hang around at a different camp in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, Camp Gemini.

Newman - Bornean orangutan

Newman is quite a “naughty” orangutan and camp staff have to be on their guard, especially around the door to the food supply. One morning Newman tried to open a closed door so the camp staff have affectionally nicknamed him “Kutu Camp” (in Indonesian 'kutu' means a fan or something you really like) for all his antics.

Currently every night, Newman sleeps around Camp Gemini, and early in the morning, he ambles after the staff for feeding. He knows that he’ll not get fed in camp, only at the feeding site. After the feeding, instead of heading off like the other orangutans, Newman then follows the staff back to camp to continue his daily routine, which includes annoying the camp staff! This is a light hearted story about one of the orangutans I have encountered so far, I hope to bring you some more soon.

Thank you,

Dr Fikri - Lamdandau Vet

Zidane, a hairier and healthier orangutan

On Sunday we were back at Camp Buluh, one of our orangutan release camps in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, where we caught up with the orangutan Zidane. He is still very thin but his hair is coming back and, most importantly, he was bright-eyed and very active.

Zidane - a healthier looking orangutan.

He watched me wash my hands and then sidled over for a drink. A more boisterous orangutan (like Barita who was watching from a distance) would have tried to snatch the bucket himself but not Zidane, he waited for the water to be scooped out and poured into his mouth.

Zidane (orangutan) and Stephen.

Barita - the more bositerous orangutan.

Sheryl asked what was involved in a “weight-gain” diet. Because Zidane readily drinks milk, Dr. Fikri has bought a supply of high-protein/high-carbohydrate formula. On top of that, the staff are making sure he eats whenever he wants to and so carry extra rations just for him. The trick is in balancing the amount of nutritious formula he receives against giving him too much, which will end up acting as an appetite suppressant. It is important that he keeps on eating.

If you can help us purchase digital cameras for Mr Tigor (Orangutan Reintroduction Programme Manager) and Dr Fikri (new Lamandau vet) we would be most grateful. I simply can not get into Lamandau often enough to monitor Zidane and the other orangutans' progress but, like I am sure you do to, I am keen to see how they are getting on.

Many thanks,

Stephen

Zidane watching as we leave. All photos by Astri Siregar

Meet our new vet for the orangutans of Lamandau Wildlife Reserve

Please meet Dr. Fikri, our new vet, for the orangutans in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Mr Tigor our Orangutan Reintroduction Programme Manager, is on the left (reluctant to stand still and smile!) and Dr Fikri is on the right.

Dr Fikri is a graduate from the prestigious Bogor Agricultural Institute, Indonesia and, as part of his work experience, spent six months at the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine in 2004. His last job was vaccinating poultry against bird flu. While he felt it was a necessary task (the bird flu epidemic continues here) he says he could not wait to get back to wildlife work.

Dr Fikri's clinic in Lamandau.

Accomodation

With funding from the Gemini Foundation we have established a small clinic and accomodation for him at Camp Gemini (again, generously funded by the Gemini Foundation), which is the most central of our five release camps, and we are in the process of acquiring all the necessary anaesthetics and other veterinary medicines. In the meantime, Fikri is being busy getting to know the orangutans. He has put Zidane on a special weight-gain diet. Zidane’s starting weight is 28kg and we’ll let you know as he improves.

I do have a request for you though. Please could you help us raise $250 - $300 that we need to buy two robust digital cameras? Tigor and Fikri require them for identifying orangutans and taking case photos. They promise to post their pictures on Wildlife Direct!

Here’s a sample of mine from my day out with them yesterday. I have no doubt Tigor and Fikri’s pictures would be better!

Thank you.

Gorzitze, an orangutan in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Released orangutan, Queen and her infant in Lamandau.