A New Guard Post in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve

After the orangutan Zidane was brought back to the Care Centre in such an awful condition (A very sick orangutan) we promised we would take action. The subsequent Forestry Police patrol along the Buluh River and the community meeting we organised did not unearth the culprit but would have left no one in any doubt that the matter was being taken seriously.

 

 

The next stage was to prevent access into the Reserve from the western side. Jak, our Patrol Manager, has organised the construction of a new post (photo above) which is well on its way. I went over to have a look at the site last week. Its location is strategic and we are confident mobile patrols from this post will prevent people illegally entering the Reserve.

My apologies for my infrequent posts over the last couple of weeks; I am still here but find myself running just to stand still!

Best wishes,

Stephen

Sustainable Agriculture Can Help Protect Orangutan Habitat.

Other than Kampung Konservasi's simple facilities such as the library, theatre, etc., we also use most of the area as sustainable agriculture demonstration plots. We grow and successfully harvest tomatoes, chilies, cabbages, string beans…all organic! We also keep fish and cows. We believe that if sustainable agriculture is done correctly, it can actually improve the degraded environment, protect native species, as well as eliminating current destructive agricultural practices, such as slash-and-burn.

Sustainable Agriculture Plots at Kampung Konservasi

Natural Fruit Fly Trap

Almost half of Kampung Konservasi’s ground used to be peat swamp; a few areas of this swamp were even as deep as grown man’s chest. Many local people believed that nothing can be done in peat swamp areas, and we already proved that we can farm fish very successfully there, using very simple materials to make the ponds such as bamboos and sand bags. We also bought a couple of cows because they are the best compost producers, and we can also sell them at the end when they grow bigger.

Below Organic Compost - the secret to our success!

Aquaponic Plots - Fish pond around the island where vegetables are growing.

Kampung Konservasi used to be a barren land it is now a thriving and lush place. We have encouraged the return of insect, bird, reptile and amphibian species. Through our agricultural practices soil and water quality has increased. In addition to growing vegetables we have also planted more than 100 tree species, ranging from fruit trees (mango, durian, rambutan, guava, papaya and pineapple) to Bornean endemic hardwood trees (ulin, gaharu, agates, and rattan, especially the local species). All plants have been labelled with signs showing the local, Indonesian, English and Latin names and information about the importance of the plant or its useful properties.

Nursery and seedlings

Kampung Konservasi Entrance Sign

Everything is to demonstrate to the local people and farmers that sustainable agriculture is a very promising income-generating activity for them to do. We are proud to report that individuals and groups have already adopted our agriculture methods in their own gardens and areas.

Terima Kasih,

Sally (Yayorin)

Kampung Konservasi - Every Place Is A School. Every Person Is A Teacher.

Stephen only got back last night from being in the field and today left for Singapore to renew his visa - sorry no posts from him. So for this week over to Sally, from Yayorin..... Kampung Konservasi (Indonesian for Conservation Village) is an integrated environmental learning facility ran by Yayorin (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia) at the city of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. What started as a dream, now has become a dynamic place where people come to learn more about how to live “in harmony with nature”, a concept barely heard of in the area before.

The idea of Kampung Konservasi is quite simple really. Because Yayorin believes that there will be no real conservation without education, we felt (and still do) that people, especially those who live surrounding the orangutan habitats, must be introduced to the idea of “nature conservation” in more direct, simple, personal ways. We need an education center; a place where people can actually go to. We cannot just preach and say “Do not cut the trees!” or “Do not kill the orangutans!” because most of those who did illegal logging practices or illegal wildlife trade in this area only did that out of necessity. They needed the money to survive. If we really want conservation to happen, if we really want people to take conservation seriously, we need to work with these people and offer them alternative ways to make a living.

As I mentioned before, Yayorin believes that education empowers people. We believe that we must educate the young, and that is why in Kampung Konservasi we arguably have the biggest environmental library in the whole Kalimantan, regularly play environmental movies in our little theatre, offer small, informal “classes” for children to take part in and work together with local schools in many other environmentally-related activities. In addition to that, Kampung Konservasi receives visits from school teachers, student groups, youth groups, farmer groups, church groups, government groups and individuals almost every month.

Since its first opening for public in March 2006, Kampung Konservasi has grown so much. Through the Orangutan Foundation UK we have received operational funding from The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation for three consecutive years; and some generous groups of people also donated funds for us to purchase more lands to enlarge our sustainable agriculture demonstration plots (more on this next time). There are still so many things to be done and so many people to be reached, but the future certainly looks promising for this exciting program. We hope that we can continue to bring you updates on Kampung Konservasi on a regular basis in this blog.

Visit us using this Virtual Tour

Terima kasih,

Sally (Yayorin)

Meet our partner, Yayorin (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia)

We would like to introduce Yayorin (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia) a grass roots conservation NGO. Stephen has mentioned their work in this blog because Yayorin are our partners on various programmes including the Belantikan Conservation Programme (see sidebar categories). Yayorin are an inspiring and committed organisation and we have learnt a great deal from their work. Because of this we want you to hear more about what they do. Once a month they will post an update here and hopefully, if time and resources enable them, they can increase the frequency.

We value our partnership with Yayorin, which stems from our shared vision that nature conservation benefits local communities and that the promotion of this idea is reliant on an educational infrastructure at a local level. We fully support Yayorin’s education and awareness programme REASON (Raise Education and Awareness to Save Orangutan and Nature).

Kampung Konservais is a major component of REASON. Indonesian for Conservation Village, Kampung Konservasi is an intergrated environmental learning arena. Its purpose is to encourage learning about environmental conservation issues and to demonstrate sustainable, alternative income-generating activities for people who live close to the forests.

I haven’t been to Kampung Konservasi but those who have visited are captivated by the place. Here is a sneak preview (link to virtual tour). Sally Tirtadihardja, from Yayorin will blog about the goings on at Kampung Konservasi and I hope you will enjoy reading them, as much I will.

Many thanks,

Cathy

Orangutan Foundation (UK)

New Vet For Lamandau Wildlife Reserve (orangutan release site)

Last month we were awarded a grant by the Gemini Foundation to implement a system of veterinary health care for the orangutans released into Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. This will mean recruiting our own vet, which is very exciting. In Lamandau there is a system of post release monitoring and the orangutans are given supplementary food to help with the transition back to the wild. However, approximately 5 – 6% of all released orangutans are taken back to Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine at some point, most commonly for small injuries or skin diseases and very rarely for more serious conditions, like Zidane. In common with all orangutan rehabilitation centres the OCCQ is full to capacity so the return of orangutans only puts an extra burden on them. Having a vet in Lamandau will reduce the chance of orangutans returning to the OCCQ, thus minimising potential stress caused to the orangutans as well. Tigor (Lamandau Rehabilitation Camps Manager) and I have finalized the job description and the advert has now gone out. Interviews will begin at the end of the month.

On to less interesting matters, it is report time again. October marks the start of the final quarter for the year; this is the time when we panic about how much or how little money is left over and what is still to be done. The written reports I can handle, it’s the budgets that I struggle with!

I probably share the same expression when I have to tackle Excel! (photo by Sarah Seymour)

Back at University, I remember courses on cell structure and function, zoo-physiology, population genetics, the biology of animal adaptation. I do not remember Accounting 101! What on earth is the meaning of “=SUMIF ('General edger' !$C$49:$C$115,C72, ' General Ledger'!$F$49:$F$115)”?

I love the two photos in this post, courtesy of Sarah Seymour. While the orangutans are undoubtedly cuter, their facial expressions remind me of mine as I look at those Excel spreadsheets.

Are released orangutans really in the wild?

Bernadette thanks for your interest and yesterday’s question: Is the feeding site to ensure that the released orangutans can get food if they aren’t able to in the wild? I’d like to know more about how the release site will function? Is it a huge enclosure, or is it really the wild? Rehabilitated orangutans, released into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, are given supplementary feedings every day. This ensures they maintain their physical condition during the transition period from life at the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine (OCCQ) to life in the wild. The feedings also decrease potential competition with wild orangutans and they allow us to monitor the released individuals. Frequently, the only time they are seen is when they come in for food.

Orangutans in Lamandau (sorry the photos are so dark).

As for the question of how wild it is: it is definitely wild. The Lamandau Wildlife Reserve has no fences. It is 760km2 most of which is forested. As you can see from the attached map, our guard posts protect the buffer zone (between the Reserve and the Lamandau River) which adds to the area available to the orangutans.

Just yesterday we counted six species of birds as we ate lunch on the jetty. During the time the volunteers were staying there they saw, red leaf-eating monkeys, proboscis monkeys, pig-tailed macaques (very rarely seen), a mouse deer and some snakes (admittedly the snakes were not so popular!).

They also saw leeches. However, let’s not be too hard on leeches as abundant leeches are a good indicator of a healthy mammal population; after all they do not exist just to prey on you and me. So even the leeches help answer your question. It is wild.

Thanks,

Stephen

Orangutan Release Site Almost Ready.

There is always something disconcerting about taking off your wet boots at the end of a day and having a big, fat leech drop out. The one that rolled out of my right sock yesterday, on my way to the new orangutan release site, was almost the size of my little finger. The one that was stuck to the inside of my calf (which I found later in the shower) was still filling up. That’s what you get walking through swamps in Borneo! Leeches don’t horrify my, the buzzing of mosquitoes and their annoying, itchy bites are, I think, worse. Anyway, the purpose of this blog wasn’t meant to describe the various blood-sucking invertebrates we encounter. Rather it was to tell you of yesterday’s trip to Camp Mangkung in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, our newest orangutan release site which was being built by our volunteer teams. The good news is the camp is just about finished. The volunteers have done another great job.

Photos showing the almost finished release site (and some fine artwork) at Camp Mangkung in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Despite madly fluctuating water levels and pretty rudimentary construction skills the dining hall and sleeping accommodation are complete. All that still needs to be done is to build the toilet and wash rooms and then tidy the site.

We walked into the surrounding forest to scout potential feeding sites. Hanging the tyres won’t be a problem! Which reminds me to say thank you to everyone who has donated so far and to Brigitta, for your latest $20 donation; we already have enough for putting tyres up at Camps JL and Rasak. If you can continue to help us we will soon have enough for the remaining camps.

At the end of the day, rather than go back via the river, Dan Ward (volunteer coordinator) and I decided to walked out. I wanted to see what access would be like when the river is low. It was a great walk, except for the fact I did not find the leeches until I got home!

Update on Zidane

In haste, I was out at the Orangutan Care Centre yesterday and managed this time to catch up with Zidane. He was having quiet time with one of his carers. They say he continues to improve, being more lively and interested in food. Fingers crossed he keeps making progress.

Thanks,

Stephen

Sad and Rare Death of a Baby Orangutan Killed by a Pig.

Tragedy struck us again this week with the news from Camp Leakey, in Tanjung Puting National Park, that Tut, a female orangutan, had her two-year old baby killed by a pig. It appears the pig and orangutans were near to each other in Camp when the pig turned and snapped at Tiido, catching the young orangutan around the head. One bite was enough. Tut immediately picked him up and when the assistants rushed over they could see Tiido was still alive but, within an hour, he was lying limp in his mother’s arms.

I am afraid I don’t have a recent photo of Tiido but if you zoom in on the photo below, of Tut sitting by the tree, you can see a tiny arm across her waist. That was Tiido when he was new born.

Peter’s photos show him when he was a year old. I am afraid I don’t have more recent photos.

Tut with her beautiful baby Tiido. Photo by Peter Ellen.

Tut was released at Camp Leakey in the very early days of Biruté Galdikas' research there. Indeed, she is the mother of Tom the present “King of Camp Leakey". Tiido was her fourth son.

Bornean Bearded pigs are common in this area primarily because they are omnivorous; they will eat anything. This means they can survive in a wide variety of habitats including oil palm plantations – where they are considered pests – as well as in dense forest. They tend to hang around the orangutan feeding stations so they can scavenge left-overs or dropped fruit.

They are temperamental and have been known to chase orangutans, probably in the hope the orangutan will drop the food they are carrying. In 1985 Biruté Galdikas reported a pig killing a young orangutan. But this week’s incident was the first of its kind in over 20 years.

Regarding Tiido’s death, I know people will say “that’s life; it is nature red in tooth and claw”. In my heart of hearts I agree with them. But I still feel sick and a little heartbroken (I threw a branch at the first pig I saw on Saturday).

To end on a positive note, thank you very much Maciej G. for your donation of $130. This is hugely appreciated and will go towards our new feeding system in Lamandau.

Orangutan Making Good Recovery.

Thank you all very much for your kind and supportive comments on Zidane. Yesterday, I had to go out to the Care Centre again and so took the opportunity to look in on him. I couldn’t believe it – he wasn’t there!!! The vets said he had been so energtic in the morning, once his sleeping-cage door was opened he took his carers hand and wandered off into the nursery forest. Time was limited so I did not follow him out there. Clearly though he continues to go from strength to strength.

I did however pop over to see the binturongs.

They weren’t best pleased to be woken up in the middle of the day but did happily come down for a sniff around. I still think they are amazing. Scientifically, binturongs are classed as carnivores in the family viverrids, which includes civits and genet cats. It may be simpler for US readers to think of them as racoons with attidute or, for European readers, to imagine a badger with a prehensile (gripping) tail.

By the way, the man next to the binturongs’ cage is Mr Sehat, the senior assistant at the Care Centre. He is absolutely amazing with the orangutans and is, beyond all doubt, Montana’s best friend.

There have been a few comments asking about who shot Zidane. These are good questions and it is still being investigated so unfortunately I can't give you any more information at the moment.

Thanks again,

Stephen

A short trip in Tanjung Puting National Park

Last night, before I was side tracked into giving you an update on Zidane (who I saw again today and he is still looking good), I thought this story of a weekend trip to Tanjung Puting National Park would be quite good fun. Now I have started it, I have a feeling it is going to be dull! As I've mentioned Elly from the London office is out on a short visit. Devis and I took her up to Pondok Ambung and Camp Leakey. The night at Pondok Ambung was great as ever and nothing is better than waking to the sound of gibbons singing.

After breakfast we decided to go for a short walk to have a look around. Besides one glorious veiled-lady fungus (beautiful but very smelly) and some pitcher plants, we did not see too much besides water.

Veiled-lady fungus

Pitcher Plants

All the swamps are full. I was the first to stumble in but, I am pleased to say Devis and Elly quickly followed suit. Also, as I was the one with the camera my mishaps are not recorded :-)

(Devis insists I tell you that, in the photo, he is not in fact falling over, but picking up a stick. I leave it to you to decide!)

We then went up to Camp Leakey. I hope next year we can update the displays in the Information Centre which are starting to deteriorate and look a bit tired. I was attempting to show this to Elly but understandably she was far more interested in the orangutans.

With Gara and her new baby around, who can blame her?

Zindane: Orangutan Out Of Intensive Care

This blog was supposed to be about my most recent field trip. However, this afternoon I had to pop over to the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine so I thought I would give you a quick update on Zidane. Bottom line – he’s out of intensive care.

Zidane when he first arrived at the OCCQ -emaciated and very sick.

A few weeks later Zidane is now alert and looking better (apologies if the photos are blurry. I switched off the flash again).

He is looking much better. His eyes are fuller and brighter. You can tell he is much more alert and active. His carers say his appetite has picked up, though he remains reluctant to drink. Tigor has, as a result, been plying him with isotonic sports drinks which, at least, he seems to enjoy.

“There are many a slip twixt cup and lip” and he is certainly a long way from being ready to return to the forest. But, the fact he no longer needs 24 hour care is a positive sign. I am now cautiously hopeful Zidane will make a full recovery.

In the next day or so I’ll tell you about the field trip. Sheryl, thank you very much for your most recent donation and your continued support. Donations will go towards funding our new orangutan feeding system in Lamandau and a new solar power set for Pondok Ambung, our research station.

Thank you and best wishes,

Stephen

Volunteering in Borneo

I know Stephen continually refers to time flying and questions where time goes…well, it certainly happens to me too. It seems like just yesterday that I was interviewing an eclectic group of people wanting to be a part of our 2008 Volunteer Programme and yet the final team are over half way through their 6 weeks of fun in the forest. I participated on the Orangutan Foundation’s volunteer programme in 2001 and I now work in the London office. As Stephen mentioned in his last post, I’m currently in Indonesia visiting the Foundation’s projects. I’m going to join in with the last two weeks of Team 3 – what am I letting myself in for?

I will report back here, in this blog.

So far all the teams have made a great headway on this year's project – a new release site near the Mangkung River in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. A release site sounds easy, but in reality it is a lot of work. From scratch we have to construct walkways, staff accommodation, kitchen, storage buildings, dig the latrine and make the release platform itself!

First finished building of the release camp at Mangkung, 2nd on its way (note the volunteer accommodation in the distance on the right)

Travel - volunteer style!

Team 3 are finding it quite a challenge to get it completed by the middle of October, however everyone who has contributed will be able to see the final fruits of their labour when we have our first orangutans released there.

If you think you would like to be a part of the 2009 Volunteer Programme then please visit Orangutan Foundation website.

Thanks,

Elly

Development & Volunteer Co-ordinator UK Office

Orangutan still very sick but now eating.

I went out to the Care Centre today to check on Zidane. While still in a pretty awful state he is improving. We have brought one of the Camp Buluh staff back to town to sit with him throughout the day. He offers Zidane food whenever he feels like it. Zidane is eating but he is reluctant to drink. However, the affection he shows for people is touching. He actually slid off his makeshift cot for a hug. Thank you Brigitta for your generous donation of $100 it is very much appreciated by all of us.

(Apologies if the photo is dark – I deliberately switched the flash off)

Elly, from the UK office, is visiting the field projects at the moment so she came to the Care Centre too.

Elly receiving an enthusiastic welcome.

There is a pair of binturongs (Arctictis binturong) also known as bearcats at the Centre at the moment.

They are very cool animals. It is a dream of mine to see one in the wild… as well as to Zidane back in the trees.

A Very Sick Orangutan

Two weeks ago we were all very shocked when Zidane (pronounced Gee – dan) was brought back from Camp Buluh in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve to the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine. Not only did he have rampant diarrhoea, was emaciated, running a fever but, more worryingly, he had 16 air rifle pellets under his skin. We have never seen this before and therefore we knew we had to act immediately and sort out what had happened in Lamandau.

A very sick Zidane at the OCCQ

A Forestry Police patrol went out for three days to interview all the rubber-tappers working along the river. Yesterday, the Lamandau Camps Manager, Tigor organised a community meeting to which he brought along district Government representatives, the police and a doctor from the Health Department. We want everyone who lives or works inside the Reserve to take worming medicines to prevent more infections. However, as this is the holy month of Ramadan, when people are fasting, yesterday’s meeting was a socialisation exercise. Once Ramadan is over we will have another meeting when the doctor will distribute the medicine.

14 days on and Zidane’s condition is stable. For the first few days we did not think he would pull through. He was given two blood transfusions, from another orangutan at the Care Centre, was on a constant drip to keep his fluids up, and as far as his body would take it, was given worming and anti-dysentery medication. But every day that he manages to hold on gives us slightly more hope.

Having the individual feeding tyres for the orangutans will help us distribute their medicines more easily and will stop orangutans congregating on a feeding platform, therefore reducing the chance of infection – thank you very much to everyone who has donated so far. Please do consider donating so that we can implement this new feeding system throughout Lamandau.

New Tyre Feeding System.

Camp Buluh

We will also build another Guard Post on the western side of the Reserve, which will prevent access to the headwaters of the Buluh River.

Although I can’t promise Zidane will pull through, I will give our word that we will do everything possible to find out what happened and to prevent another orangutan suffering in the same way.

Thank you,

Stephen

Bringing the office to our orangutan release camps.

A huge thank you Anna M, Kit C and Wanda H for responding to our recent ask for donations towards the solar power sets and the new feeding system, that we are establishing in Lamandau at our orangutan relesase camps. Both projects are very important and still require your support so please do consider donating. In response to my post about my awful journey to choose a guard post site, Sheryl (thank's Sheryl for your offer of a donation as well) commented “Your day at work is always infinitely more interesting than my day at work”. Do you really think so? I can assure you we deal with just as many mundane, administrative issues as everyone else. The only difference is the physical environment.

A trip Uli, who is our office manager, and I made proves the point.

The Indonesian government has a health insurance scheme onto which we want to enrol all our staff. In order to do that the necessary paperwork has to be completed. Before the paperwork can be completed the staff have to, firstly, receive the papers – we are talking about eight different project sites - and then know what they have to do.

A lot of our field assistants are, putting it in completely western terms, “country folk”. That, of course, is why they are great for us: they know the trees; seasons; animal behaviour and everything else you could possibly want to know about the forest. However, the flip side is paperwork is completely alien to them.

Boths the above photos show Camp Buluh one of our release camps in Lamandau.

So Uli and I set off on a whistle stop tour around four of the five Lamandau release camps, (the idea being for her to explain the form and for me to get a day out of the office!). I am sure it would be a modern “Human Resources Department” worst nightmare. Four people could not remember their own birthdays, with two not even being able to hazard a guess at the year.  A lot of the Dayak’s only have one name. Therefore “Riti” was a typical example of what was written for the section “Mother’s maiden name”. Uli, whose full name is Iria Yuliasih Siregar and who came to us from an office job in Jakarta coped admirably with a situation that was way beyond anything she’d experience previously. And it wasn’t just cultural….

Outside the windows curious orangutans were looking in.

An interested audience!

At Camp Buluh, Omang actually swung onto the boardwalk to get a closer look at why so many people were talking so animatedly at once.

Curious Omang

And if I said there was an orangutan at Camp JL called Hercules my guess is you are not picturing a cuddly infant. You’d be right. Hercules is a strapping sub-adult male in the full flush of the testosterone rush which precedes the development of cheek pads.

If I am ever in a camp at feeding time, I always try to accompany the guys out to see the orangutans. Uli came along too. It was good to see Bobi and Dodon with their youngsters. It was less good to see Hercules barrelling towards us once feeding was over.

At a push Uli might agree with Sheryl in describing the day as “interesting”. The rest of us described it as “Phew!!! That was fun”. Which is amazing as all we were trying to do was fill in some forms.

Help Needed with Orangutan’s New Feeding Sites

Last week I asked for your help to buy a solar power set for Pondok Ambung, our research station, well I'd like to ask for it again.

In May I wrote about how we had changed the feeding system at Camp Siswoyo in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve (Feeding Orangutans - A New Approach). Instead of using a feeding platform as is done at all the other release camps, at Siswoyo we have hung cut-up and inside-out car tyres from trees. The orangutans’ food is then dropped into these heavy-duty “buckets”; the one tyre per orangutan system reduces competition, allows us to give an extra large portion to hungry or pregnant orangutans, or those with infants and the tyres eliminate the risk of disease transfer from the orangutans walking across a dirty feeding platform.

In May, I said the system was not 100% perfect. We have tried tweaking it: some of the tyres have been lowered so the field assistants can get the food out quicker; and the tyres are now in more of a circular arrangement, rather than in a line, so the orangutans do not all congregate at the start. This week Tigor, the Lamandau Camps Manager and I reviewed the system. Our conclusion was that we should do it in the other five camps!

And that is why I am asking for your help.

We need an extra 80 tyres; for efficiency we will buy an angle grinder so we can cut up the tyres ourselves and a bore to make the drainage holes; we need steel cable to attach the tyres to the trees and step ladders. The total cost will be just over $500 (5 million Indonesian rupiah)

Thank you Mary H. for your donation of $15 on September 1st and Brigitta for your donation $20 on the 5th September- we really appreciate your support.

On a final note, I would encourage all of you to do as Sheryl suggested and sign the petition http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/anjelica_huston_video to end the use of great apes by the entertainment industry. In addition to the obvious welfare issues surrounding performing animals, I read recently “A survey conducted of visitors to Great Ape Trust and cited in Science magazine (March 14, 2008) showed that the appearance of apes in advertising and entertainment negatively influenced the general public’s perception of the conservation status of apes in the wild.”I hope you can help.

As always, I will update you as we progress and thank you in advance.

Stephen.

Add Power To Our Research

Pondok Ambung, our research station in Tanjung Puting National Park, has been mentioned quite a bit in my blog. In the late 80's, Pondok Ambung was established as a proboscis monkey research site but by the end of 90's it had been badly damaged by illegal loggers. The Orangutan Foundation's team of volunteers repaired the site in 2001 but it remained abandoned until 2005 when the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation awarded us a grant for its complete renovation.

And this is what we did.

The station requires a new solar power set. Solar is the only source of power providing electricity for the station. A new solar set costs $600 and any donations towards this amount would be hugely appreciated. So far the running and maintenance of the station has been entirely funded by the Foundation or from fees received from researchers staying at Pondok Ambung.

Recently, Pondok Ambung was used as the base for the “Orang-utan ‘08” expedition from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. A team of four undergraduates led by Graham Banes spent eight weeks in Tanjung Puting studying the effects of disturbance, particularly forest fires, on the distribution and density of orangutans. Encouraging scientific research in Tanjung Puting National Park creates the knock on effect of increasing support for its protection.

Here are some of the incredible species that have drawn researchers to Pondok Ambung so far.

Malaysian False Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii)

Proboscis Monkey

Tarsier

Tropical Pitcher Plant

And of course...Orangutans!

Thanks for your comments on my last post - I've just about recovered!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud - my day out of the office.

One of the rules of blogging on Wildlife Direct is that you can not swear. I know that is only reasonable but it does rob me of my ability to completely describe yesterday. It was a nightmare.

Trying to get to Sukamara, on the Western side of the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, and back in a day is always a challenge. We were going there to choose the location of our next guard post but the backlog of admin, that I am currently struggling with, prevented me from giving the trip more time. There is no one better than Jak at picking these sites but, because we have to justify the choice to our donors, it is too much responsibility to leave him to “carry the can” alone. My head has to rest on that block.

We woke at 6am ready to depart at 7 only to be asked to delay until 9 as a member of our speedboat driver’s family had suffered an epileptic fit and had to be hospitalised. Quite reasonably, in the culture in which we work, family illnesses take precedence over anything. Hence we were two hours late leaving.

Tides change in hours.

We arrived at the fishing town of Sungai Pesir just before noon and drove straight to the Reserve, stopping only to drag a stranded vehicle out of one of the crater-sized holes in the road. We branched off the main track, into the Reserve, checked out the first potential guard post site. We then drove on as far as we could and walked to the second site, leaving the car to turn around.

The second site was great but it was fairly deep inside the reserve – more important to protect the borders – and access would be a problem (how true these words would prove to be).

The heavens opened as we walked back to the car and we were drenched by the time we got to it. There had been no need for us to hurry; the vehicle was going nowhere. It was bogged down to its axles.

Applying physics and the scientific method to the problem, I worked out what we needed to do. Applying common sense and practicality to the problem, the team set about fixing it! They did the better job, but it still took three hours to get the car unstuck.

In turn we jacked up each wheel, braced it, moved on to the next, jacked that up, braced it, and so on until we were back to the first wheel which we then jacked up a bit more, braced, and moved onto the next wheel. And so on….

Three hours later the car drove off six feet and then stuck again.

We pushed it free and it got stuck again. Soon however it was on firm ground and we could go. We went back to the first site, which, not surprisingly (!), received our unanimous seal of approval, and we continued onto our Sukamara office. There we talked through the local situation with the Mobile Education Unit, who is currently touring schools and villages in the area, before Jak and I headed for home.

I’ll leave out a description of the sound of spinning wheels and spraying mud as we drove back to Sungai Pesir. Suffice it to say, I would describe the two people we picked up, to save them the walk, as traumatised rather than grateful, but that’s beside the point.

We got back into the speedboat just before 8pm. The tide was running out so the driver went fast and in doing so missed a bend in the channel, sending us skipping over the mudflats until somehow he managed to career us back towards deeper water. Seeing what was about to happen I braced myself but still managed to mash my big toe on impact.

To properly understand our situation you really have to have been there, or have knowledge about the geography of southern Borneo. There are beaches which are dry; in front of them are mud flats which stretch for 100's of meters deepening imperceptibly until suddenly you are in the sea.

There was no moon last night; we could not even see the coast. It was too cloudy to see the stars. Navigating by compass we tried to head south into the ocean, the propeller screaming against the mud and sand while the waves from the sea constantly upset our course. Eventually we were clear and turned east. In rain and a kicking swell we aimed for the mouth of the Lamandau River, which would take us back to Pangkalan Bun. The rain came down, the waves threw us up. Though it was cold and uncomfortable it wasn’t dangerous per se but, if danger is defined as the limiting of one’s options, we were never far away from being in a crisis.

At the risk of sounding a wimp I got to the stage of just wanting the whole trip over. The light of the beacon we were aiming for never seemed to draw nearer. I lost the ability to think about each wave which threatened to flip us over, what would happen if we grounded a hundred muddy meters from the shore, if the light we were following was in fact a fishing boat, miles out?

And it still wasn’t over.

Once we turned into the river (fortunately when the rain eased off) we found ourselves confronted by a wall of mist. Either the warm air was condensing on contact with the cold river or vice-versa’ I neither know nor care. All I know is we alternated between periods of break-neck speed when the driver was confident to sudden swerves and chugging along as we tried to find the river bank again.

I post this blog unashamedly with just three poor photos. If you had been with us in that boat you would have heard a rich stream of expletives which would have been much more colourful!

Identifying Individual Orangutans

Paula's question of how do we identify individual orangutans is a good one. In many ways, recognition is done as we do with people: it is the whole appearance which guides identity. As with chimpanzees, but unlike gorillas, orangutans have lots of individual differences. One of the features I find most useful is the "forehead bump" all orangutans have but whose shape and size varies. Other unique features are hair colour, hair patterns, body-size, moles and scars. Adult males (cheek-padders) are easy; they all have different facial patterns and pad shapes. You learn to tell adult females apart by their individual appearance. The group I find the hardest (and at times impossible) to identify are old juveniles – young adolescents; orangutans aged from around 5 - 10 all look very similar. You can not tell the sexes apart; they all still retain a youthful lightness to their skin and, quite frankly, appear identical! Only the Assistants who see them very frequently can tell them apart.

I hope the attached photos show what I am talking about:

Tata: She is a big female; eyes quite close together; dark hair crown.

Princess: She has a line running from her nose to under her right eye, otherwise she has a smooth face with a narrow, pointy forehead-bump. Her coat colour is dark.

Siswi: Obvious!

Tut: Tut is thin to the point of being gangly; she has a distinctive fringe and her face is very lined.

Uning: Obviously still a young adult; Uning retains the lightness around the eyes and mouth which is typical of young orangutans. Her eyes are also quite close together.

Badut: Compared with other adult males, Badut has a narrow face.

Kusasi: His cheek pads are incredibly ragged.

Masran: The join of his cheek-pads is very triangular and he has a notch on his left pad.

Tom: Like Siswi, when Tom is around you know it! However, the join between his cheek pads is distinctive. I describe it as “messy”. Compare it with the photo of Win and you’ll see what I mean.

Win: Has a very obvious crease running across his left cheek-pad.

Juvenile: Beat me! I can’t even tell if the orangutan in the photo is a boy or a girl :-)

Photographs by Anna Lewis, Hugh Sturrock, Melissa Tolley, Ursula Fuller and Stephen Brend.