Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction - BBC2 9pm 27 March 2013

Please see our press release below about our Trustee's new film, Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction, showing tonight on BBC2 at 9pm.

PRESS RELEASE

Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction

BBC2 9pm Wednesday 27 March 2013

Terry Pratchett hears the orangutans’ long call

Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author and Trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, returns to the forests of Borneo to see what hope there is for the endangered orangutan whilst facing his own personal challenges.

Sir Terry Pratchett encountered wild orangutans for the first time in 1994 whilst filming Terry Pratchett’s Jungle Quest.  One ape, Kusasi, who was the dominant male “king of the jungle” at the time, left a lasting impression that would, almost two decades later, entice Terry back to Borneo.   In his latest film, Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction, to be aired on BBC2 9pm on 27 March, Terry explores not only the fate of the endangered orangutan but also his own fate as he battles with a rare form of  Alzheimer’s.

Terry Pratchett is best known for his hugely popular Discworld novels, a fantasy series, which feature the Discworld character The Librarian, who was transformed into an orangutan. This prompted Terry’s curiosity about the great red ape, which he has described as “having a face like a surprised coconut”, and led to his long-term support of the Orangutan Foundation, a UK charity, of which he is a Trustee.

Whilst filming Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction last year, Ashley Leiman OBE, the Orangutan Foundation’s Director, invited Terry and the film crew to accompany the charity’s vet and rescue team to a proposed oil palm plantation, where an adult male orangutan was reported to be crop-raiding.  The devastating threat of oil-palm plantation expansion to the endangered orangutan’s habitat required little explanation.

Ashley, who was also on Terry’s first adventure to Borneo, recounted “Back then, the chainsaw was our enemy. This time, we were confronted with the real threat: oil-palm plantations had replaced swathes of forest – the orangutans’ home. We drove for more than three hours through unrelenting monoculture. There was nothing but oil palm”.

The Orangutan Foundation increasingly has to rescue stranded or injured orangutans. Only last year, a female orangutan, considered a pest, was shot over 100 times. She miraculously survived but was left permanently blind and will never return to the wild.  To address this escalating issue the charity is working on a new project Mitigation of Human-Orangutan Conflicts in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo which is bringing together local government, oil palm growers and farmers to find a solution.

The Orangutan Foundation’s Director Ashley Leiman is positive about the future for orangutans “I felt privileged to be part of Terry’s latest film but I recognise that when faced with the stark reality of the situation, stranded orangutans and such forest loss, it can be hard to remain positive. Yet Terry visited some local communities who, with our assistance, are finding alternative ways to generate an income without having to destroy the forest.  There is active local support for conservation in Borneo but as we know it only takes the actions of a few to undo the good work.   I hope Terry recognises that his generous support over the past years has made a difference and that all is not lost.”

For more information or for interviews, please call Ian Redmond, Orangutan Foundation Trustee, on 01453 765228 or email ele@globalnet.co.uk or info@orangutan.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

High resolution photos and additional images are available here: http://bit.ly/XB5iyE

Further details about the Orangutan Foundation its activities are available on the Foundation’s website www.orangutan.org.uk

The Orangutan Foundation works in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra to protect endangered orangutans by protecting their tropical forest habitat, working with local communities and promoting research and education. It recognises that orangutan habitat is unique in its richness of biodiversity and is crucial for local communities, who are as dependant on the forest as is the orangutan.

The Orangutan Foundation work in areas of critical orangutan habitat in Central Kalimantan, in the Indonesia part of Borneo. Additionally, In collaboration with the Indonesian government’s local Nature Conservation department (PHKA), the Orangutan Foundation runs a release site for rehabilitated and translocated wild orangutans in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Sir Terry Pratchett, Trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, is one of the most popular authors writing today. He is best known for his hugely popular Discworld novels, a fantasy series, which feature the Discworld character The Librarian, who was transformed into an orangutan. This prompted Terry Pratchett’s curiosity about orangutans and his long-term support of the Orangutan Foundation. In 1995 Terry visited Indonesian Borneo with Orangutan Foundation to see orangutans in the wild and film Terry Pratchett’s Jungle Quest for a Channel 4 television documentary and he returned in 2012 to film Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction for BBC2. Terry has won numerous literary awards, has received four honorary doctorates, was appointed OBE for services to literature in 1998 and he was knighted in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Ms Ashley Leiman OBE is Director and Trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, which she founded in 1990. Ashley has been actively involved in Asian conservation for over 30 years. Her initial involvement was with the Natural History Society and Conservation Society in Hong Kong. In 1985 she was on the organising committee of the New York Rainforest Alliance. In 1986, after spending time in Tanjung Puting National Park, Indonesian Borneo,  Ashley set about establishing the Orangutan Foundation in the UK. In 2006 Ashley was appointed OBE for her services to Orangutan Conservation. Ashley is also a member of the Executive Committee of the UNEP’s Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP).

Threats to orangutans

The biggest threat to orangutans is habitat loss. Orangutan habitat is being destroyed and degraded by oil palm plantations, illegal logging, acacia plantations, fire, mining and small-scale shifting cultivation.

The destruction of tropical forests affects the global climate and is one of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns. For orangutans the situation is critical.

The principle cause of habitat loss is the conversion of forests to agriculture, especially  vast monoculture oil palm plantations.

Palm oil is produced from the kernel of the oil palm plant and is the world’s most popular vegetable oil, primarily produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. Often labelled  as just vegetable oil, palm oil  is a hidden ingredient found in up to half of packaged food products across Europe, it is also used in cosmetics and increasingly as a biofuel.  A new EU regulation, requiring all vegetable oils to be labelled individually, will come into force in 2015.

Oil palm plantations expansion is not the only threat. Deforestation for mining (both legal and illegal) has the potential to be just as devastating. Illegal mining has been found within the boundaries of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.  The Orangutan Foundation is protecting this area of critical orangutan habitat with guard posts and patrols.

Images – high resolution versions can be downloaded from the Orangutan Foundation Photo Gallery from this link http://bit.ly/XB5iyE

To donate to the Orangutan Foundation please click here or text  APES05 £X to 70070 and put whatever amount you would like to donate where the 'X' is. For example, to donate £20, text APES05 £20.  Thank you!

All in a days work at Orangutan Foundation

We are sad to say farewell to our vet Dr Fikri but we'd like to thank him for all his excellent hard work. Fortunately, Wawan, who already works for us, is a qualified vet and so he is on standby until we recruit a replacement. Wawan is normally based in the Orangutan Foundation office, in the town of Pangkalan Bun,  so last week he jumped at the chance to get out into the field. Here's a short update from him and you're in for a treat as he is a fantastic photographer!

A visit to Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve by Wawan

'I went to Camp Siswoyo with Pak Tigor (manager of Orangutan Rescue and Release programme) to see wounded orangutan named Pablo. Based on field staff's information he had fought in the jungle but no ones know whom with, whether other orangutan or another animal.

For several day before Pak Tigor already gave him medicines.  I think his wounds are already in process to recover and is going to cure so no worry with this. I advised the staff to keep the wound clean and on what treatment to give. Hopefully, in maybe one or two weeks, Pablo will be cured and could be free from the cage.

After seeing Pablo then I go Camp Gemini, our main camp, to see Aan in her new enclosure. Because Aan is blind she naturally seems worried when she hears someone approach.

I also saw female orangutan, Melon, and her child at Camp Gemini, who came to see what was happening.'

Thank you Wawan for the beautiful photos.

More news soon!

Thank you, Orangutan Foundation

 Please consider a donation to support our work

Photos of orangutans' rescue

Here are the photos of the rescue, of a mother and infant, which we blogged about last month. Now, they are both safely in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Please consider a donation (donate here) to support our vital work.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

Petition: Save Aceh's forests - home to orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants

Over 1.2 million hectares of forest in Aceh, in the north of the island of Sumatra, are planned to be used for development (roads, mining, oil palm plantations and logging). These forests are home to orangutans, rhinos, elephants and tigers - critically endangered species. These forests are also vital for our own species' future.

To find out more information and sign a petition - http://www.change.org/saveaceh

Thank you.

Birding in Borneo

This wonderful photo was taken by Arif, the manager of Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station, which is run by the Orangutan Foundation in cooperation with the head of Tanjung Puting National Park, (Indonesian Borneo).

The bird in the nest is the Black Naped Monarch Hypothymis azurea. It is a small species of flycatcher and the female is different in having a brown back.

The park authorities have invited stakeholders to work together to produce a book on the bird species found in the Park. The whole project will be a joint effort, from collecting photos to designing the layout. Arif attended the first meeting to share ideas and discuss the book's content.

In 2009, we gave a research grant to Harri Purnomo (Bogor Agriculture University), an Indonesian student, whose study of the diversity of birds at Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station, found 107 species. It is thought that over 200 bird species are found within the Park. We will be helping to identify the different species of birds in photographs that are to be included in the book. Watch this space for news on the book.

Steppes Discovery are running Orangutan Conservation Tours to the National Park, which includes a visit to the Pondok Ambung Research Station. For more details about this once-in-a-lifetime trip click here.

Wild Bornean orangutan and 4-year-old offspring rescued and moved to safety.

Our Orangutan Veterinary and Rescue Team were called to Pendulangan Village again last week to check the reports that an orangutan had entered into a community settlement. A large adult male orangutan (named Gagah - read past post) was rescued from the same village in November. It turned out that the one orangutan was actually a female aged about 12 years with an infant, also female, aged 4 years.  Four Orangutan Foundation staff were assigned to spend the night in the village to monitor the movement of the orangutans. After two days it was decided to translocate the mother and infant to the nearby wildlife reserve. The two were captured and were immediately taken and released in the area of Buluh River near the feeding platform of Camp Buluh in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

The following day after the mother and infant were translocated to the reserve the team went to Kumpai Batu Village to check on reports from villager that there were three adult orangutans hanging about an oil palm plantation of about 20 hectares. The orangutans are thought to live in the remaining forest about 100 meters wide, which is claimed by the community.  More news on this to follow soon.

Sorry for the lack of photos, we hope to upload some up soon.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

Please consider a donation to support our work - donate here

Show your love for orangutans!

Show your love for orangutans today by making a donation (donate here).

Please forward to your friends and family.

Thank you!

The wonders of life – help save forests and orangutans!

Needed: 12 adventurous individuals for 6 weeks volunteer work in Borneo. Your mission: to build a guard post that will strengthen the protection of a wildlife reserve that’s home to the endangered Bornean orangutan, gibbon, clouded leopard and thousands of other amazing species.

You must be healthy, fit and ready for a challenge. A sense of humour is a must and, unlike orangutans, you must be able to work and live in a group!

Find out more: email cat@orangutan.org.uk or call 020 7724 2912

www.orangutan.org.uk

Belantikan’s big ape count

Determining wild population sizes of orangutans and gibbons, both highly arboreal (tree-dwelling) apes species, is a conservation challenge. But, over the years, scientist have come up with methods that enable accurate estimates. For example, with orangutan their nests are counted and with gibbons, it is their songs that are recorded and used.

We are trying to find out more about the wild ape populations of the Belantikan Hulu region which is part of the greater Belantikan Arut – a spectacular landscape spanning 500,000 hectares across Central and West Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). The Belantikan Conservation Programme (BCP) is a joint initiative of Yayorin (an Indonesian NGO) and ourselves.

The Belanitkan Hulu comprises primary and secondary lowland forests, including both recently logged forests and post-logging forests that have since recovered (over the last 35-40 years). The area has ravines, rivers, cliffs and logging roads – all synonymous with Borneo.

There is a large wild orangutan population, which was first surveyed in 2003, and a gibbon population, whose size is unknown. In 2012, The Rufford Foundation awarded funding to the BCP to build a small research station and to commence surveys of the ape species. The research station is now in use by BCP’s field researchers and by a team of biologists from the National University of Jakarta.

Our initial surveys indicate there has been a continuing decrease in the orangutan population over the years. This population was estimated to be the largest population of orangutans existing in the wild outside of the protected area system. In fact, more than 70% of the total Bornean orangutan population in the wild is found outside of designated conservation areas. Hence, it is important to determine the size and distribution of the Belantikan population accurately, and to be able to monitor the current apparent population decline, so that appropriate conservation actions can be taken.

The gibbon survey estimated a density of just over 3 groups per km2, which is considered high. The BCP will conduct further research to determine how orangutans adapt to living in logging forests and to the varying degrees of disturbance. Further studies on gibbons will also survey the wider area and the estimated territory and cruising areas, study group composition as well as changes in habitat conditions between seasons.

We hope to provide you with new and exciting findings from Belantikan as we start to find out more about its forests and what lives within.

We are extremely grateful to The Rufford Foundation and to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund for supporting this research project, and to the Arcus Foundation for supporting the on-going conservation project.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation and Yayorin (Belantikan Conservation Programme)

New enclosure for blind orangutan, Aan

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for your support.

Orangutan Foundation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Season’s greetings,

Ashley

Ashley Leiman (Founder and Director Orangutan Foundation)

Rescued orangutan, Joson, adapting well to her new forest home.

Here's is an update about infant orangutan, Joson, from our vet, Dr Fikri, in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Joson, a young orangutan stationed at Camp Siswoyo since October 12 2012, is undergoing a 'soft-release' program. She is keeping in good health. She is agile and cheerful like a young wild orangutan. Every day Joson is released into the forest and she is more confident to climb trees and move between trees, adventuring further away. She also makes nests in the trees.

One afternoon, Joson was resting in a nest that she has made. The nest was quite high so Edi, a member of camp staff, couldn't see her. Joson stayed in the nest a while with Edi waiting under the tree. However, after a long time, Joson's nest  looked motionless. Edi called to her but Joson didn't appeared. Concerned, Edi then climbed a nearby tree and then saw that Joson was laying in the nest, glancing at him in his tree. Feeling deceived by Joson, Edi finally laughed. He thought that he had lost track of her.

Every morning after eating and drinking in a cage, around 07.00 am, Joson is taken to the forests to learn through playing. She has been introduced to edible forest fruits and tubers. Now it is often seen that Joson eat some kind of fruit such as fig and guava. Joson also often go down to the swamp to take forest tubers. Joson also looks not afraid when she met with Baung, adult female orangutan, who has a male child named Alcatras. Joson kept busy with her own activity and did not seem concerned with the presence of Baung and Alcatras.

After Joson seems finished with playing in the afternoon, around 3 pm, she will return to the camp and go into her cage. Before bed Joson is given fruit and a drink.

Joson has shown a lot of progress. When Joson was first taken out of her cage and raised into a tree near camp, she was very slow while climbing. Before coming to the Reserve, Joson had stayed for quite a lot long time in a cage being kept as a pet by a villager. Her body was also rather fat. With her distended belly, Joson often look funny when slowly trying hard to climb trees.

At the beginning of her acquaintance with the trees in the forest, Joson often hesitated when climbing. Some time shortly after being up in the trees, Joson go down and walk on the ground and then climb another tree. . However, the direction of movement was often to return to the cage where she was staying.

Joson has undergone remarkable progress in soft-release program. It did not take long for Joson to climb proficiently, to be able to make a nest and find her own food. We have great hope that Joson someday will total release into the wild and be able to survive in nature.

Thank you,

Dr Fikri,  Orangutan Foundation Vet.

Two more orangutans rescued

This has been a record year for the Orangutan Foundation in terms of the number of orangutans rescued and released into the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve. The fact we can help these apes and offer them a safe refuge is a positive but it is worrying that there are so many apes in need of rescue.  Last week, two more orangutans arrived at the reserve. Here, they will undergo a 'soft' release process where, overtime, with help and monitoring, they will return to a life in the wild. The two orangutans were brought to the Pangkalan Bun office of BKSDA-SKW II (Conservation and Natural Resources Authority) from Sampit, District of Kotawaringin Timur. Pak Hartono, Head of SKW II-BKSDA, named the 5 year-old orangutan Nisa, after his daughter, and the other orangutan, who is thought to be about 3 years-old, was named Lisna, after a BKSDA member of staff.

Nisa (photo above), who was a pet, had been kept in a cage for over a year. Lisna (photo below) was also a pet, but had never been kept in cage.

Our vet, Dr Fikri visited the BKSDA office to examine the orangutans. Lisna, the younger of the two, stayed calm. However, Nisa was very distressed and had to be sedated.

Thankfully both orangutans were found to be fit and healthy and so they were taken to the Reserve last week.

During the boat journey both orangutans remained calm. Dr Fikri held Lisna in his arms and she even fell asleep.

When Nisa's transport cage was opened she quietly climbed out and went straight into the larger holding cage.

Whilst this was going on Lisna took the opportunity to do some tree climbing. The staff were impressed by her skills as she is still very young. Lisna looked very confident and was lively, often moving from branch to branch.

It then began to rain so Ari, an Orangutan Foundation member of staff, tried to call Lisna to come down from the tree. But Lisna ignored him, she was having far too much fun. Ari had to climb up and bring her down.

Lisna only stayed one night at Camp Gemini. A crack was found in the cage and it was feared that Lisna might break out. So the next day Dr Fikri, our vet, moved Lisna to Camp Siswoyo, another release camp, within the reserve.

Thank you to everyone who has donated over the past week - your support is vital to our work and we are extremely grateful.

More news from the field soon!

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

Smile and the world smiles with you

Ian Wood is a writer and photographer who specialises in nature, travel and wildlife.  He also supports our work through his Orangutan Photographic Trips.  Below is an excerpt from his blog, which will put a smile on your face.  Visit http://agoodplace.co.uk/blog,  Ian's blog, to read his reports on his trips to Borneo in 2012 and take at look at some of his stunning photography. 'Exchanging eye contact with any great ape imbues a deep sense of connection ... so when this mother and baby orangutan gazed into my eyes it was already a special moment. But then something else happened ... they both started displaying emotions which looked like laughter. So here's the question ... are they smiling and laughing ? Or am I merely observing them from my limited perception of being human ? @IanWoodPhotos'

A big thank you to Ian and to all who joined one of Ian's trips in 2012 for supporting our work.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

A big thank you!

We are delighted to announce that we have met our Big Give target of £15,000. Thank you to everyone who donated so swiftly this morning - once again, we are overwhelmed by the response and generosity of our supporters. Our Habitat Protection Project will support the running of our guard posts and patrols in two areas of critical orangutan habitat -Tanjung Puting National Park and Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve in Indonesian Borneo. These are ongoing costs but ones the we have to meet. If forests aren't safe, neither are orangutans.

If you didn't have a chance to donate this morning but would still like to then please donate via our website (click here to donate).

A big thank you from everybody at Orangutan Foundation

Keep forests standing and orangutans in the wild

Double your donation this Thursday 6^th December at 10am,  at http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/project/HabitatProtection, and you can be assured that you are helping to keep forests standing and orangutans in the wild. A common excuse used by people who are found acting illegally inside protected areas is that they didn’t realise they were within the borders.  To counteract this problem in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve (Central Kalimantan, Indonesia Borneo), the Orangutan Foundation and BKSDA Central Kalimantan (Conservation and Natural Resources Authority) are currently ensuring that the Reserve’s border is correctly marked. This involves patrolling the entire border, the reserve is approximately twice the size of the UK's Isle of Wight, and using GPS to check that makers haven’t been moved and also replacing any markers that are missing.

The Reserve, which is critical orangutan habitat, is also a government designated orangutan release site.  It is where orangutans such as Bangkal, Rosa and Brian and Aan (female orangutan who was rescued after being shot in October) are all living.

Maintaining this basic habitat protection is vital.  Yet it comes at a cost that the Orangutan Foundation has to meet.  Please help us tomorrow, Thursday 6th December, and if the matched fund has already been used up then please try again on Friday or Saturday or until the fund has finished.

We really appreciate your support.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

Wild male orangutan, Gagah, moved to safety of Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve

Support our work and have your donation doubled at 10am on the 6th, 7th and 8th December at http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/project/HabitatProtection

The wild male orangutan, who was captured last week in the village of Pendulangan (read previous post), has now been moved to the safety of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.  Our vet, Dr Fikri, and our Reserve Manager, PakTigor, said the orangutan (who they have named Gagah - meaning handsome) was very agile, nimble and smart and so trying to dart and capture him was very challenging. Fortunately, Pak Uduk, our Assistant Manager, is a very able tree climber and is a good shot with the anaesthetic blowpipe. Eventally, he darted Gagah at the top of a tree. After a few minutes, when Gagah started to look weak, Pak Uduk and the team approached and managed to reach the orangutan's hand. They led him slowly down from the tree.

The next day, Gagah was examined by Dr Fikri at the BKSDA office in Pangkalan Bun. Gagah is thought to be ± 20 years old and his cheek-pads are about 7 cm wide.  He is certainly one very handsome orangutan!

Gagah was given a clean bill of health and it was decided to release him in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve. During the journey Gagah looked nervous, often sound and shaking the cage, the whole time looking at the surrounding forests.

By late morning, the team had arrived at Camp Buluh, the site where Gagah was to be released. Due to heavy rains, Gagah had to wait in his cage for a few hours. Eventually the rain eased off and Gahah was finally released.  He immediately ran, very fast, to a tree and then moved to a more distant tree to leave the release team behind. In a very short time he was out of sight.  

Please help us safeguard the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve to ensure a future for Gagah. Your donation can be worth double with the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2012!

Save the date: 10am (UK time) 6th, 7th and 8th December 

Your donations can only be doubled, online, at the link below:

 http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/project/HabitatProtection

Another wild adult male orangutan rescued

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

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

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

We will keep you updated on his progress.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

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

It's Orangutan Awareness Week - go orange, go wild!

It's that time of year again to show your colours for orangutans.  Whether at school, work or home do something for orangutans this week! A huge thank you to everyone who is taking part. If you haven't done so let us know what you are up to. Remember you could win a fabulous Body Shop hamper (worth over £100) if you come top in one of the following categories: 'Most Fundraised Income,' 'Most Inventive Use Of Orange' and 'Most PR Generated' - a great incentive to get involved!

A special thank you to:

The Body Shop Foundation  - check out the Body Shop's Sumatran Trekker's awesome online auction this week.

1st Crichton Brownies who are holding an orangutan cafe, dressing in orange and as orangutans and are being waitresses for the evening.

Pam Swan who is organising an orange themed tea party, raffle and bring & buy sale.

Colchester Zoo are celebrating this week and are going orange on wednesday 14th November.

Christy Harrison is organising an ape-themed film and live music night at local pub in London.

Check out Orangutan Republic Foundation for a list of what is happening internationally.

And just in case you need a little reminder of why....

Here's Joson, a 4-year old orphaned orangutan, rescued last month by Orangutan Foundation.

Thank you

From everyone at Orangtan Foundation

Recovery of orangutan blinded by air gun pellets

Aan's condition has remained stable since she was taken to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, where the Orangutan Foundation run six orangutan release camps.  Aan is at Camp Gemini, which has a veterinary clinic and a suitable temporary enclosure.

We are pleased to report Aan is very active and eats by having fruit placed in her hand.

She receives new branches with fresh leaves everyday and makes a nest on the floor.

When the staff enter the enclosure to clean and replace leaves Aan always moves away to the top of the enclosure and then comes back down after they have left.

Dr Fikri, our vet, believes that Aan's hearing is normal allaying fears that she might go deaf because of pellets lodged around her ears.

We will keep you updated on Aan's progress. We need help to support the costs of caring for Aan and other orangutans in need of rescue. Please consider a donation or why not get your work place involved in Orange for Orangutan Day next week?

Thank you,

from Orangutan Foundation staff in the UK and Indonesia