The Gibbon’s Gone

I felt really good about what we achieved today. Early, last week, an agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis) was delivered to the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine (OCCQ).

The gibbon

The story went he did not “belong” to the man who brought him to the Centre. Rather the man had caught the gibbon after it had escaped from a neighbour’s house. Maybe, maybe not. However, at least the man was giving the gibbon up so we could not be too angry. But, with over three hundred orangutans in captivity, plus a sun bear, we really don’t need another mouth to feed.

As gibbons should be!

Especially not a gibbon. They are fascinating creatures but require specialist management. Gibbons mate for life and fiercely defend their territories. They swing through trees with amazing ease but that does mean their enclosures should ideally be very high and long so they have room to move. None of this suits the set up at the OCCQ.

So we called up Kalaweit, a gibbon rehabilitation project near the provincial capital, Palangka Raya (www.kalaweitfm.com/kalaweituk.htm) . They would happily take our new arrival. The Head of the local Forestry Department’s Agency for the Conservation of Natural Resources, under whose jurisdiction we operate, offered the loan of his vehicle and prepared the necessary paper work. This morning, the gibbon set off to begin what will hopefully be the final stage in his journey from captivity to the forest.

Hopefully the final stage in this gibbon's journey back to wild.

It will cost us $150 in fuel, a night’s hotel accommodation for the drivers, and a donation towards the gibbon’s necessary medical checks. In return we have supported the Forestry Department in achieving their mission, maintained positive cooperation with another wildlife NGO and, most importantly, done the right thing.

Gibbons don’t belong in cages. We can not set him free but Kalaweit can.

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A Conservationist’s Dilemma -What to do with Montana?

Before I begin, let me apologise if in my last blog, the photo made it seem Mr (Pak) Sehat was with Montana. The orangutan Pak Sehat was pictured with was Hongky when they had just arrived at Camp Rasak immediately before walking to the feeding site, where final release took place. If a bond between Hongky and Pak Sehat is apparent, well the camera does not lie. Hongky is a boisterous teenager. The mere holding of his hand by Pak Sehat was enough to calm him until he was released and he was free to climb. Montana is different. When I first arrived in Indonesia, Montana was a little bigger than the size of Hongky in the photo. In those days he joined in the "days out" system of the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine (OCCQ). It is really only in the last year or so he has not been able to, and not just because of his size. It is also his character. I thank you very much for your offer "Cathy-California” and Sheryl, but in Montana's case it isn't that "the problem is a shortage of money? Would a specific donation intended let's say to hire 1-2 people...." The problem is what happens when Montana is out of his cage. He wants to roam, to explore, to find his own space. We simply can not provide him with what he needs at the OCCQ and in all honesty no number of extra assistants would change that. If Pak Sehat is not confident letting him out, none of us should be.

Unfortunately, neither can we accommodate Montana in Lamandau. The rehabilitation system as it is set up takes orangutans nearing independence-age and releases them into the wild, though with supplementary feeding. Once in the wild, the orangutans have to take their chances in finding food, dispersing and interacting with other/wild orangutans. Of course, veterinary care and assistants are there to help when things don't go according to plan, but essentially the process is 'hands off'.

Montana doesn't fit into that system. There is too great a risk he will fight with other orangutans, and would likely loose because of his disabilities. He may also be a danger to the staff, or the local people who work in and around the Reserve. We want to be hands off with the orangutans but we also want them to be hands-off with us!

So the alternatives are: building him a permanent enclosure at the OCCQ (as you suggest) or finding a more appropriate release site. While the first seems like the best solution it is by far and away the most expensive. Is that justifiable when there are 300+ other orangutans needing care and new releases sites, and not to mention the arguably more important demands of habitat protection for the wild populations? The OCCQ was not designed to be a sanctuary and it is important for us to stay true to that mission. In the complicated politics of Indonesia if we were to start providing life-time care, in the eyes of the Government, it could potentially weaken our argument for more protected areas and release sites; “why, the orangutans are fine where they are.”

The other alternative is finding a more suitable release site – deep in the heart of the forest. The middle of Tanjung Puting National Park would be ideal but currently orangutans are not allowed to be released there. However, we are confident, one day we will find the right spot. In the meantime, we do what we can for him; whether it is giving him banana trees, or the novel feeding toy Jodie and Peter built for him, ropes, swings, car tyres and hammocks.

Hand on my heart, I do not think Montana “suffers’ at the OCCQ. He is alert and active. However, any cage - at some level - compromises a being’s welfare and we recognize that while we do all we can given the dilemmas of limited resources, priorities and the need to balance conservation against welfare, it is not enough. The tragedy, the “wrong” of Montana’s situation is that an orangutan that big has to be in captivity at all. That’s what we are working to change.

I am sorry this blog has become so long and detailed – it was not meant to be, but perhaps the balancing act we have to perform in caring for the individual and protecting the species is not easily explained. There also is one other point that needs to be made.

In starting out on Wildlife Direct we pledged honesty. We sincerely thank you for your offer of support and none of us are about to turn down donations. Similarly, we have all agonised over what to do with Montana. However, investing heavily and solely in him would not be right. I would ask anyone wanting to help Montana to make their donation towards the OCCQ.

I hope you understand.

Many thanks

Stephen

A quick reply to comments…

Thank you for all your comments on Montana. Clearly, his story has touched you as much as it does us. Montana spends 90% of his time in his cage, which is partly what makes it so tragic. The only time he gets out is when we need to give his cage a 'deep clean', put in more ropes and tyres or, as frequently, repair it! The problem is, he is so big and strong he simply cannot be taken out with the other orangutans. Even Pak Sehat (see photo below) who is magical with orangutans cannot control him.

Mr Sehat with an ex-captive orangutan (not Montana)

The other issue is that the OCCQ was never designed to provide a permanent home. It is only a 'half-way house' for the orangutans on their way back to the forest. Therefore, finding a long-term solution for Montana requires careful thought as the existing facilities are not designed to be used permanently, especially by orangutans of his age and size.

Photo below of Ashley Leiman (Founder & Director of Orangutan Foundation) and I hard at work!

Many thanks,

Stephen

Violet - A chance to be free again.

We found Violet in a chicken coop. She was chained around her neck, covered in dirt, and scars, and she smelt. Her skin was dry and she had discharge from her eyes and a bloated abdomen. She had been fed the same food as the family who kept her: rice, tofu, vegetable and sweet tea. The owners claimed that they had “found the orangutan in their field six months ago.” At first they did not want to give her up because “they loved the orangutan”.

Violet with chain in chicken cage

Violet with the chickens

Violet being rescued by the mobile education team

Ironically, it was the mobile Education Team who found her. They had gone to the village of Bukit Raya, Central Kalimantan to raise awareness about orangutan conservation amongst the people. The cage they found Violet in was, at most, 1 x 0.5 meters and her mother had almost certainly been killed. The Education Team told the family the law and Violet was duly passed over. That same afternoon, she was brought to our Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine Facility (OCCQ).

Violet stayed three week in Quarantine at OCCQ. Veterinary tests showed she was suffering from anemia caused by parasitic infestation: amoebic dysentery, to you and me. She was given the medication that she needed and plenty of food.

Photos, taken last year, of Violet at the OCCQ

Three and a half years on, and she is almost unrecognizable. These days, Violet lives in “Pondok Medang” along with 32 other orangutans. Every second day she is taken to the forest where she is allowed to climb and play in the trees. She can not go to the forest everyday because we try to separate male and female orangutans – we are happy if they have babies in the forest, but we do not want more babies at the Care Centre.

Violet clearly wants to live in the forest full time. On the days she goes into the forest, she climbs high into the trees and is reluctant to come down – even in the rain. This doesn’t make her too popular with her carers but they are pleased with her forest skills.

Violet up in the OCCQ forest

Rather worryingly, Violet has become bored with bananas. As you can imagine, they are a bit if a staple at the Care Centre. However, it is now mango season and Violet still loves mangos. When I last saw her, she was sat on a basket of fruit, which was meant for the other orangutans, greedily stuffing mango after mango into her mouth!

Two weeks ago, I wrote that I was going to the Care Centre and promised you a story. Violet’s is that story. There are over 300 orphaned orangutans at the Care Centre; it is impossible to follow all their progress. Some, however, touch you and Violet’s story is so tragic, but heart-warming, she is the orangutan for our Foster Programme.

I had gone to the Care Centre, for a meeting, to discuss the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, our Government designated release site. So far, 153 orangutans have been returned to a life in the wild in Lamandau’s forests. This year, we’re pushing for it to be Violet’s turn.

Violet now - soon she'll be given the chance to live in the wild once again.

I know I should have sent this blog to you as soon as I wrote it. As so often, we found ourselves juggling priorities and I never reached the “send stage”. Tonight – blissfully with electricity – I am also happy to say we had a steady drizzle for two hours, on the back of some heavy but localized showers last week. The rain is not enough to fill the swamps and rivers; two days ago I went passed our food store where we have a high and low jetty – the low jetty is still four feet above water level. However, the rain is enough to drop the fire risk, which is a relief. The beaters are almost ready; today we collected the rubber flanges. If the rain does not continue, with your help, we will at least be better prepared.

Again, I apologize for the lack of news but I am truly grateful for the support you give us. Keep your rain dancing shoes on!

Snakes and a big thank you!

Dear Theresa and, of course, other readers Thank you very much for your very generous donation. It is much appreciated. You will be pleased to hear Mumsie was returned to Camp Gemini yesterday. She was ready to leave the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine on Monday, but because of the fuel shortage we decided not to make a special journey to take her back but rather to wait until the weekly supply run. Normally we push to get orangutans out of the OCCQ as quickly as possible so this was an exception. However I am sure, in the big scheme of things, a few extra days at the OCCQ won't have done her any harm.

Interesting question about snakes. It is something many people ask about. As would be expected there are lots here but they are very rarely seen. In the forest are reticulated pythons that can grow to enormous lengths (well I consider 5m/16' enormous!

Same photo of the python but the lower photo has markers to show the snake (photo by Steven Frankham).

There are poisonous snakes: cobras, kraits, vipers and keelbacks. Then there are the non-poisonous snakes ranging from the thin racers, through bronzebacks, whip snakes (all fairly common) to water snakes.

The interesting thing is I have seen more snakes in town than I have in the forest; I came home once to find a (harmless) racer on my doorstep. They are drawn to town by frogs, toads, rats and mice. Racers are one thing, cobras another - and I have only seen them in two places: palm oil plantations and in town. They like these "unnatural" places because of the unnatural abundance of prey to be found there.

Cobra (photo by Peter Ellen)

Cobras are pretty specialised nocturnal hunters and, in town, move around the storm drains. I can not pretend they are commonly seen (once or twice a year maybe?) but we have had two staff members bitten by them in the time I have been here - both when they were walking at night. One was very serious - she required eight days in hospital. The other was less serious and it is believed the snake was surprised and struck before it had filled its venom sacks. Nevertheless he felt queasy and vomited for two days. Unfortunately, we can't carry antivenin because it needs to be chilled. It is however available at the local hospital.

Again, thanks and best wishes,

Stephen

A few photos..

As promised, here are a couple of pictures of Boni, one of the four orangutans that we released into lamandau at the end of last year.

Boni - up in tree at OCCQ forest (photo by Jodie Sheridan)

On their way to freedom!! Boni is on the right. (Photo by Jodie Sheridan)

This photo should really have gone with my last post - Working in Borneo. My fellow office workers. From left to right there is Jak, Ully, Devis and Astri.

More orangutans back in the wild

At the very end of last year, we released four more orangutans into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. It was a great way to end the year for me, and I hope it was for the orangutans as well. They certainly took to the forest with enthusiasm. For two of the orangutans, it was not their first taste of life in the wild. Boni and Sawit were returned to the Care Centre earlier in the year with medical problems. Boni miscarried and our staff feared there were complications. However, after a period of recuperation she was back to normal and ready for re-release. I don’t go on every release but, as this would be the last release of the year, it seemed auspicious.

As an aside, though my photos of her won’t do her justice, Boni is actually a particularly attractive orangutan. I know some people are uncomfortable with the idea of judging orangutans but we might as well be honest: just like people, there are fat ones, thin ones, light coloured, dark, long-haired types, balding, heavy browed, floppy-lipped orangutans and a whole lot more. I am not pretending to run a beauty competition but I will say Boni is Hollywood’s idea of what an orangutan should look like! And I don’t think I am alone.

Orangutans as they arrive (Boni is the darker orangutan in the middle)

As soon as she was let go, she ran straight up to a sub-adult male who had come in to meet the new arrivals. They noisily disappeared into the trees and did not even come down for the food which was laid out for them.

Andi was one of the first time releases. Normally we release orangutans when they are between six and eight years old, roughly their natural independence age. Andi however is only four. At the Care Centre he had been adopted by Sawit and it was only right that they were released together. Despite the number of orphans at the Care Centre surprisingly few adoptions actually work. Older females will be happy cage-mates with young orangutans but their relationship won’t develop to the extent of sharing food, carrying, protective behaviour or sleeping together all of which a natural mother would do. In Andi and Sawit’s case the relationship was complete. They were in separable, as I learnt to my cost.

Andi at full stretch!

The orangutans were released at Camp Rasak which is where Kath and Jutak were released in November. I am pleased to report that Kath has moved away from the release site into the forest and this is not surprising as she was an older orangutan. Jutak makes the occasional appearance but is not seen every day. The Assistants feel she is still wary of the sub-adult males but she may be seen more frequently as her confidence increases.

Camp Rasak was built by our volunteer teams in 2005 and it is a great camp, incredibly peaceful and, perhaps best of all, it is built on dry ground which is hard to find in swampy Lamandau. It is a refreshing experience to be able to walk normally rather than sloshing through water. I therefore did not mind slinging Sawit on my back for the short walk to the release site.

Short walk? Feeding sites are moved regularly because of the pressure the orangutans exert on the area; they break trees and branches, and often nest nearby. Changing the feeding location stops one particular area being degraded too heavily. Our diligent staff had moved the feeding platform a further 300m away from Camp. And, of course, I wasn’t just carrying Sawit on my back – Andi was on hers!

So in moving the platform the staff were being conscientious which I am sure I would have found pleasing had I not been lugging a combined 57kg of red ape; couldn’t someone have told me?!

Settling in to their new home, the forests of Lamandau.

Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine (OCCQ)

The last time I wrote, I talked about Mr Sehat from the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine (OCCQ). I thought you might like to learn a little more about the Centre and what goes on there. The OCCQ is located in a village on the outskirts of Pangkalan Bun and is where we receive orphaned, confiscated or injured orangutans. It is the first step of the rehabilitation process, which will end with the orangutans being released back into the wild in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. The Centre was opened in 1998 and its facilities include an operating theatre, X-ray room, laboratory, library and separate quarantine complex. Adjoining the OCCQ is a remnant patch of rainforest which provides a learning area and “halfway house” for the orangutans before they return to a life in the wild. Three Indonesian vets, two laboratory technicians and over 100 local people are employed there. Currently, the OCCQ is caring for over 300 orangutans in various stages of rehabilitation. Orangutans are received as young as four months old and may remain at the OCCQ until the age of ten, or even older. Often when they arrive, the orangutans need 24-hour care. Many are severely traumatised and suffer from disease, injury and malnutrition. Without a high degree of care, they would not survive.

It is very difficult to describe how one feels about the OCCQ. It certainly confuses me. The orangutans receive the best of care and it is real joy to witness their recovery and development as they go through the process of rehabilitation. However, the fact can't be ignored that far too many are in captivity and this is because their habitat is being destroyed. Over-crowding is a chronic problem, which is why finding release sites, like the new Mangkong one, is so important.

OCCQ from above - (Jodie & Pete Sheridan)

The OCCQ generates an endless wish list – medicines, equipment, children’s multi-vitamins, infant-formula milk and a host of other things. With some of those things, I can try to help but with limited resources available it does create the dilemma of where money would be best spent - improving the short-term welfare of the orangutans at OCCQ or tackling the longer term problems of habitat loss and therefore protection for the wild population. We try to get the balance right. By working intensively in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, a government designated release site, we achieve both welfare and conservation gains. We can get the orangutans out of cages while, at the same time, protect a large area of forest.

I have included a short piece about the OCCQ from Jodie Sheridan. Jodie and her husband Peter are Australians who are volunteering at the OCCQ under the Australian equivalent of VSO or the Peace Corps. Jodie had written a piece for her sponsorship programme’s newsletter which makes interesting reading.

Jodie writes:

It’s hard to believe Pete and I are fast approaching the two year mark for living here in Indonesia. It feels like only yesterday that the Australian Orangutan Project (AOP) and the Volunteering for International Development from Australia (VIDA) Program selected us to come to Borneo to help orphaned orangutans. It has been an adventure to say the least, full of amazing moments and tough times too.

Highlights come to mind easily.

For Peter, being a huge snake fan, seeing spitting cobras, vipers and reticulated pythons in the wild certainly rates a mention from him but his most rewarding moment came after working solidly for three months building a playground for the smallest of the orangutan orphans and seeing them use it for the first time.

Play time! (Jodie & Pete Sheridan)

Watching the small babies swing, roll, jump, smile and laugh because of the work we had done felt truly amazing.

For me, it’s too hard to choose just one highlight so you get a couple of my most favourite moments!

Setting up enrichment programs to stop the orangutans getting bored on days they can’t play in the forest. Something as simple as a hessian sack or cardboard box can provide hours of fun. Going with armed Indonesian Police in the middle of the night and seizing an orphaned orangutan being kept illegally at someone’s house certainly gets the adrenaline pumping. Generally the orangutans are kept in such appalling conditions that if we don’t get to them quickly they can die from malnutrition, neglect or disease. But I guess I would have to say the most magical moment was releasing an orangutan named Gloria back to the wild. When Gloria was captured she received major wounds to her upper arm and as a result had very little use of one hand, she was also terrified and angry towards people. I befriended Gloria and was able to take her to the forest regularly to strengthen her muscles. After 5 months she had almost full use of her hand and even though she was young, her forest skills were remarkable. Gloria was taken to our release site and as she moved off into the jungle, she turned and looked back at me before slipping out of sight. Thinking about that moment still gives me chills. She is still occasionally spotted and is happily living independently in the forest and I could not have asked for anything better.

But it devastates us to think that even with all the work done on trying to save the orangutan species that more orangutan infants are orphaned everyday and the problem is only getting worse. Indonesia’s rainforests are destroyed at a rate of a 6 football fields every minute due to illegal logging and clear felling to make way for a booming palm oil industry. Palm oil, that is on every shelf, in every supermarket, in every country in the world

Camp Mangkong

A quick blog to let you know about a very good day. But first the background. About a month or so ago we removed some illegal loggers from the Mangkong River and subsequently we built the guard post there – the post which flooded.

I accompanied a follow-up patrol to make sure there was no more logging taking place upstream. Well there was definitely no logging but, even better, we found what appeared to be an ideal orangutan release site (see photos below). I won’t bore you with all the factors that come into play when choosing a release site but suffice it to say “location, location, location” isn’t everything! You have to have forest, access and a clearing for the buildings plus a few other things. Anyway, we saw this site and all said “perfect”.

The Patrol Team, who monitor illegal activities, are seperate to the Camp's staff, who monitor the released orangutans in Lamandau and they are separate again from the staff at the Orangutan Care Centre Quarantine (OCCQ) where the orangutans start the rehabilitation process. One of my jobs is to try to integrate all the different branches of our operations, so last week I went back up the Mangkong with Mr Tigor, the Camp's Manager, a couple of his staff and staff from the OCCQ.

Foremost among the OCCQ staff was Mr. Sehat, he is someone I truely admire and he has an absolutely magical way with orangutans. At the OCCQ he is the "dominant male" – bar none. I once watched an orangutan trying to wrestle a tub of fruit from one of the other assistants. Mr. Sehat happened to be walking past. Immediately, the orangutan let go, sat down meekly and gratefully accepted his allotted share. There is no force or aggression in his manner, it is simply will power and years and years of experience. Sehat once carried a sub-adult male weighing some 70 kg (154 lbs) from his enclosure to a traveling crate just so the orangutan would not have to be anesthetized.

Photo taken of Mr Sehat on an earlier orangutan release.

To continue, if Mr. Sehat agrees with something we know it has to be alright and he took one look at the selected site and asked grinning, “Why haven’t we found this place before?”. Ukim, one of the other assistants, sized it up perfectly – and with the brevity typical of a Dayak. He looked around and said simply “it’s never been burnt”. Fires destroy the natural seed bank in the soil (rainforest trees are not adapted to cope with fire). Even if an area has been logged it will recover but once it is burnt, recovery will be much, much slower. Mr Tigor was equally enthusiastic and he had even started pacing the layout of the new site. For my part, it was reassuring to know that everyone was in agreement, this was a perfect release site. You can expect to hear more about the Mangkong Camp and the orangutans, who will make their home there, in the future!

Action Plan for National Conservation of Orangutans launched in Bali.

Thank you F.J.Pechir for your comment about the new Action Plan to save orangutans - we are also very hopeful. On Monday 10th December important and promising news, for the future of the orangutan and its habitat, came from the United Nations Climate Change Conference , in Bali Indonesia. The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, launched the “Indonesian Orangutan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan 2007-2017” book.

At the launch the Indonesian president said “The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests ... To save the orangutan we have to save the forest."

Togu Simorangkir, the Chairman of Yayorin ( Orangutan Foundation partner NGO), had been actively involved in the development of this Orangutan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan book. He said "The book consists of a specific, measurable and time bound action plan in regard of orangutan conservation in Indonesia. It was a very important event for all orangutan conservation stakeholders in Indonesia because it shows strong commitment from all parties to work together and serious support from the government in orangutan conservation."

The Action Plan commits to maintaining orangutan populations above critical thresholds at which their populations may fail to recover. A core target of the plan is to stabilize orangutan populations and habitat from now until 2017.

Other goals of the plan are to return orangutans currently housed in rehabilitation centers to the wild by 2015 and to ensure that government and businesses follow established and developing guidelines on orangutan conservation.

According to Dr. Erik Meijaard, a Senior Scientist with the Conservancy and Science Advisor for Orangutan Conservation Science Program (OCSP) “as much as 1 million hectares of orangutan habitat scheduled for conversion to oil palm will be saved through the plan’s implementation”.

“This could lead to 9,800 orangutans being saved and prevent 700 million tons of carbon from being released.”

Dr. Meijaard also said "If payments for avoided deforestation become an official mechanism in the global climate agreements, then buyers will likely compensate Indonesia for its forest protection. Protecting orangutans will then lead to increased economic development in the country. Such a triple-win situation is not a dream. With some political will, it can soon be reality."

“One million hectares of planned forest conversion projects are in orangutan habitat,” added Rili Djohani, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Indonesia Program. “Setting aside these forests is an important step for Indonesia to sustainably manage and protect our natural resources. It benefits both local people and wildlife while making a major contribution towards reducing global carbon emissions.”

A PALM OIL COMPANY CARING FOR ORANGUTANS?

Last week, we were surprised to receive an invitation to a "Public Consultation on the results of a survey of the Population, Distribution and Habitat of Bornean Orangutans, as well as Human Socio-Economic Aspects in Palm Oil Plantations especially in PPB Oil Palms Sdn Bhd-CKP (Central Kalimantan Project )/ PT Mustika Sembuluh Group”.

This is the first time we had heard of a palm-oil company surveying orangutan populations and could not tell from the invite whether the idea was intriguing or scary. I could not go, so my colleague Astri Rozanah went, along with Mr Ade Suharso, the local head of the Forestry Department’s Office for the Conservation of Natural Resources. Other participants in this public consultation came from government (province and district level), private institutions, universities, NGOs, local community groups and the press.

This is what Astri reported:

“The Orangutan population survey was conducted by WWF survey team who made a presentation of their findings. Based on the survey research, WWF and team found that PT Mustika Sembuluh Group forest area has a quite high biological diversity. They found orangutans, 8 other primate species, 25 mammal species, 168 birds species, more than 10 reptile species, 29 fish species and 88 plants species. The highest estimated population density (found in an area near the Seranau River), was 2.2 orangutans per km2. (NB: This is a high density)

After their presentation, the program continued with an open discussion. The palm-oil company PT Mustika Sembuluh Group intends to set aside over 7,000 ha of forest which is assessed as being of high conservation value as a conservation area. This is even though the forest is located inside their existing plantation area.

At the end of discussion, they recommended a 'full assessment’ to generate a spatial plan for the areas which have high conservation value. This assessment will indicate how the forest will be managed; conservation must be combined with helping to meet local communities’ social and economic needs. The assessment will also indicate who best should have management responsibility for the conservation-forest, the Company, an NGO or the Forestry Department”

Oil palm plantation - once tropical forest now a desert landscape

Here’s a palm-oil company apparently, voluntarily, choosing not to destroy rainforest; They are seemingly prepared to put “their money where their mouth is” by setting aside an area for conservation; The area they are proposing to conserve is sizeable – over 250,000 palms could be grown on 7,000 ha and they are talking of setting aside more; The Company is clearly prepared to work with NGO’s and the Government in a transparent way; Surely they must be thinking of trying to sell their produce at a premium with some kind of green-label.

Now, despite all my “seeminglies, apparentlies and surlies” those are all positive developments. Yes, we still have reservations - I will try to explore those with you some time soon. But I want to end this quick blog on a positive note – and it is this.

PT Mustika Sembuluh Group is clearly aware of the rising tide of public opinion against the destructive practices of palm-oil companies. And what does that mean? It means, your and my voices are being heard. As ultimate consumers you can ask your supermarkets to source responsibly and you can create markets for the products you want to buy.

I am not saying this is anything but early days. But we are detecting signs of change and for that I thank you. We can all be orangutan conservationists.

Thank you Theresa S for your very generous donation of US$500 we really appreciate your support and interest in our work. In a few of my posts I have mentioned that we hope to raise funds in order to build a new orangutan release site, in Lamandau. We will direct all open donations received from Wildlifedirect towards the release site, which we plan to build in 2008. We will keep you updated!

Setting Orangutans Free

It is about time you read a story about orangutans, so here is a great one. Last Sunday, we released two teenage female orangutans back to a life in the wild. Kath and Jutak came to us as orphans. Both were confiscated from people who were holding them illegally as pets. Kath’s story is particularly tragic. She was confiscated from an animal dealer, in West Kalimantan (the neighbouring province) way back in 1998. She was chained around the neck, where the skin was rubbed raw. She cowered from her “owner” who became very aggressive during the confiscation. Eventually, the Police were called to tell him to back off.

During her time at the Orangutan Care and Quarantine, Kath’s weight increased over three-fold. On Sunday she weighed a healthy 25kg. Unfortunately, Kath was plagued by a persistent cough which prevented her from being released any earlier. The nightmare disease with captive primates is tuberculosis but repeated tests for TB came back negative. However, the cough would not respond to any medication whether homeopathic or western. It is only in the last couple of months her cough has subsided. And as soon as that happened, we thought “time to go!”

Kath and Jutak in the pick-up

After a final health check by the vets, the two orangutans were carried over to the travel cages, which were then loaded on to the back of the Forestry Department’s pick-up. (I laughed when I saw a little orangutan in one of the neighbouring enclosures standing on tip-toes trying to see what was going on). At this point, Kath and Jutak were OK, but their adrenaline must have been starting to flow. After the twenty minute drive to the jetty they looked decidedly nervous. When we tried to move their cages into the waiting speedboats, it became all too much. The orangutans tried to grab onto whatever they could to stop themselves from being lifted. Their fingers were gently prised open and the cages lowered into the boats.

As quickly as possible the boats took off and the two orangutans seemed to settle down, watching the river bank drift past. Kath even drank some water and ate an orange, which a truly scared orangutan would never do. A Brahminy kite circled overhead and twice hornbills flew across the river in front of us. Once we turned off the main Lamandau River into the Rasau River, a smaller, black-water tributary, the boats had to slow down, and the orangutans became positively curious. No doubt they were smelling the forest.

Once at Camp Rasak, far upstream, their cages were lifted onto a well barrow and trundled into the surrounding forest. Each Camp has a feeding site, which is also where orangutans are released so they know straight away where they can find food. The aim of rehabilitation is to return orangutans back to a life in the wild. The food they are given each day is only a supplement. It does not meet their full dietary requirement, so the orangutans still have to forage, but it does gives them some stability has they adapt to life in the forest.

Release site feeding platform

In the OCCQ, the orangutans sleep inside at night. In Lamandau, they have to make a new nest each day. At the OCCQ, the older orangutans are only taken to the nursery forest every second day – so we can separate males and females to stop unwanted pregnancies (we are happy if they breed in the forest, but we don’t want any more babies in cages). In Lamandau, the orangutans will be climbing and moving all day, every day. It takes the orangutans some time in their new surroundings to find the food trees, and to work out where the previously released orangutans’ home ranges are. For all these reasons the feeding sites are useful on top of which they allow our field assistants to monitor daily who is around, whether they are in a good physical condition.

In the wild again!!!

On Sunday, at the feeding site, Kath and Jutak climbed out as soon as their cage door swung open. But their excitement was not yet over. Straight away they were faced by Janu, a rather rambunctious teenage male. His thoughts were not on the mangoes laid out on the feeding platform, but on the two nubile females just arrived. He tried to inspect Kath who challenged him and slipped out of his grasp. There is no way a female orangutan can physically resist a sub-adult, let alone a fully adult male, but Kath had a plan. As she ducked out of the way, she exposed Jutak who Janu grabbed and held down with ease.

Curious Janu

I actually felt very sorry for Jutak. After having been loaded into a travel cage, driven in a car, put in a speedboat, and finally wheeled on a wheelbarrow, both her and Kath must have been, at the very least, bewildered. To be then grabbed and held down by a male of whose size she had never encountered, must have been the final straw. Jutak whimpered as Janu held her. The Assistants closed in to make sure he did not bite her, but nothing aggressive happened. Janu poked prodded and sniffed but then let her go. Jutak dashed up a tree and climbed hurriedly away. Kath, by this time had moved some off some 30m and was watching from high up in a tree.

We left them at sunset as both orangutans made their first nests in their new home. Two assistants will follow the orangutans for a week, recording how far they travel, what they eat and where they sleep. This way we can make sure they are settling in OK.

Despite the adventures of the day, it looked as if both will do just fine. We’ll keep you updated on their progress.

Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine (OCCQ) to successful rehabilitation.

I want to introduce you to the OCCQ because behind the need to save the forests, is the need to save the orphaned orangutans who ultimately all come from the forests which have been lost. Increasing numbers of orangutans are arriving at the OCCQ as their habitat is destroyed. The OCCQ currently has over 300 orangutans and we urgently need to release the older orangutans back to the wild, where they belong. To date 155 orangutans have been released in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, most of who have come from the OCCQ.

Very young orphan orangutan with carer

Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine facility

Inside the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, we operate five release-camps each with a staff of up to seven field assistants. OF plans to build two more release camps at Lamandau to relieve pressure at the OCCQ. One of the camps will be constructed by participants from our invaluable Volunteer Programme and we are currently trying to raise funds for the construction of the other site and both release camps’ running costs.

The release of orangutans into the Lamandau creates a visible reason to increase the protection of threatened forests. Last August we managed to stop the establishment of an 8,000 ha oil-palm plantation that would have wiped out the reserve's buffer zone and impacted heavily on the nearby Lamandau River.