In a break from form the thinking behind this post is not to tell a story but to let you know an insiders view of the ins and outs of orangutan conservation. Shamelessly, photos of orangutans and the forest will accompany this post, as much to remind me as well as you what this is all about, though they played no part in the week I have just had.

I have just spent three days in Jakarta (capital of Indonesia on the island of Java). Myself, Togu the head of Yayorin and Iman, the Team Leader of the Belantikan Conservation Programme (a joint Orangutan Foundation – Yayorin project) flew there on Tuesday, had meetings on Wednesday and Thursday and we flew back to Borneo on Friday. No one begs forgiveness for the air miles/carbon emissions more than us!

The meetings centred on a proposal submitted by the Foundation and Flora and Fauna International (FFI) to the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Day One was dominated by the need to prepare a work plan, “pipe line” expenditure, and Terms of Reference for new employees. Thursday, was the face to face meeting with USAID’s contractor, and friday we flew home. The meetings were intense, bureaucratic and purely administrative. Jakarta’s infamous traffic jams were as bad as ever and our hotel was – putting it mildly – awful. So, was it worth it?

Yes.

To save huge tracts of forest requires huge investment. Arguing for the conservation of forest that spans provincial boundaries adds a political dimension, and talking of carbon sequestration/reduced greenhouse gas emissions immediately puts everything into an international context. Our proposal is not complicated; entitled simply “Landscape-based Conservation of Orangutans between Central and West Kalimantan” it aims to bring together and improve conservation initiatives already underway in West Kalimantan (by FFI) and us, in Central Kalimantan. It represents what we have long believed in – NGOs collaborating, not competing – and the pragmatic acceptance that logging operations exist but are not fatal unless the logging concession is subsequently converted to palm oil.

Simple idea and, if I say so myself, the right idea; but now to jump through the hurdles.

Yayorin’s presence was an imperative. As the Indonesian conservation organisation who will do the implementing in Central Kalimantan, they had to be involved all the way. Quite rightly, most of the discussion took place in Indonesian, though trying to translate legalese such as “The recipient may request a waiver of the Marking Plan or of the marking requirements of this provision, in whole or in part, for each program, project, activity, public communication or commodity, or, in exceptional circumstances, for a region or country” was a struggle!

So what was the outcome?

Wildlife Direct is needed, perhaps more than ever. (Fingers crossed) We’ll get the grant. This will expand the range of our joint operations and put more conservation flags on the map. USAID and other big donors are great at providing the training opportunities and supplying the satellite images and computing hardware to analyse them, and we are the first to say thank you for that. But simple things like rucksacks for the guys’ backs, new uniforms and, indeed, anything actually for orangutans themselves falls way outside of “Locally financed procurements must be covered by source and nationality waivers as set forth in 22 CFR 228, Subpart F, except as provided for in mandatory standard provision”.

I am not being cynical. The point is we are trying to do this from top to bottom but always with an eye for what is really happening in the forest. Without a lot of committed people, such as yourselves, being passionate about orangutan conservation, we would not even be talking to USAID or the European Union. But that is only part of the story.

The other part is the nitty-gritty like the fire beaters you so generously sponsored. If we are going to be successful we need to be active and effective at every level, especially at the grass roots, on the front line. Thank you for keeping us there.

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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

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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

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Stephen is currently at meetings in Jakarta so, as a fill in, please see the two pieces below, written for this blog by the Belantikan Conservation Programme (BCP) Team. The Orangutan Foundation believe that scientific research is a fundamental tool in ensuring the continued survival of the orangutan and the long-term protection of its habitat. Research reveals the interdependence of all forms of fauna and flora (including toads, fruit, orangutans and humans!) and provides us with the facts required to make informed decisions about how we manage an individual species or an ecosystem.

- Iman Safari, Program Manager of BCP

‘I have worked with community in four villages at Belantikan Hulu, Kalimantan Tengah for two years. However I have never been there while the fruit season arrives. Finally, I got to taste several exotic fruits that I have often been told about by the Belantikan Village community.

Please you take a look at these exotic fruit’s pictures. Not everybody has an opportunity to see these exotic fruits such Mentawa (Artocarpus sp), Durian Pampaan (Durio kutejensis), Kusi (Durio dulcis), Lempahung (Baccaurea lanceolata) and Asam Mehawang (Manggifera foetida) since these fruits could be found only in Kalimantan’s countryside.

Mentawa (Artocarpus sp)

Durian Pampaan (Durio kutejensis)

Kusi (Durio dulcis)

Lempahung (Baccaurea lanceolata)

Asam Mehawang (Manggifera foetida)

In my own opinion, those fruits have extraordinary flavor. As a part of Indonesian plasma nutfah (germplasm), they should be grown properly in order to cultivate their superior variety. As matter of fact, those fruit will be extinct if there is not any pre-plan farming to be taken. The government should have started to develop an initiative to keep their exotic fruits existing.

At the present time, the forest in Belantikan Hulu has been changed to be wood repository area and iron mining area. If there is no pre-emptive scheme to grow those exotic fruit, surely they will be become extinct someday. The next generation, most probably, would never taste or witness them. I felt so fortunate about experiencing the natural-wealth of Belatikan Hulu forest.’

- Sasi Kirono, Resercher of BCP

‘The Belantikan region has very high ecological assets. The variety of ecosystems and the location altitude (76-1099 mdpl) might also be the factor of ecological wealth. This area was surveyed in 2005 and 32 amphibian species and 38 reptile species were found. The survey also found an endemic and very rare jungle toad, Barbourula kalimantanesis.Another rare amphibian species, Genus ichtyophis, was also discovered but this extremely rare species has not been classified, even though the image has been taken by camera.

Barbourula kalimantanensis

In my most recent survey I discovered 38 amphibians and 18 reptilians. During engagement of the survey, we have a hard time to categorize discovered species due to limitation of herpetofauna identification.

Discovering Belantikan’s treasures - BCP researcher

Herpetofauna are important as their presence is a bio-indicator for healthy environments. My simple research should have continuation. I wish there will be other researchers to have the same interest like me.’

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The objective of the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine (OCCQ) is to rehabilitate orangutans so they can be released into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Tragically, some orangutans, like Montana below, arrive at the OCCQ with such bad injuries that this will never be an option for them. For these individuals we must try and provide as best conditions as possible and at this point our work changes from conservation to welfare.

Montana (photo by Peter Ellen)

Montana is the oldest and biggest orangutan at the OCCQ. Well on his way to adulthood, he was confiscated in 1994 when he was approximately 5 years old. He had been shot in the head and, as a result, is blind in his left eye. He has a paralysed left leg and only partial use of his right arm. He can be aggressive with people and has long-since reached an age when he is intolerant of other orangutans, so has to stay by himself. Unfortunately, Montana can never be released into a normal forest situation as his injuries have left him weakened and unable to compete with other orangutans, and there is a risk he would become a “nuisance” raiding villagers’ crops. I could write more about him but suffice it to say, like Violet, he is one of the ‘special ones’, one of the orangutans who has been especially cruelly treated by fate and humankind.

At the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine (OCCQ) we are lucky in that the surrounding nursery forest provides completely natural enrichment for the majority of our orangutans. The forests have everything they’ll need for learning the skills and developing the muscles required to survive in the wild. Unfortunately, as I have said before, not every orangutan goes out every day. For most of the older orangutans it is every second day. However, for some, it is much less frequent. Some refuse to come back at the end of the day, or they roam too far – there are power lines on the road alongside the nursery forest. Some do not want to mix with the other orangutans (orangutans are semi-solitary in the wild). For these orangutans that don’t get out to the forest, enrichment is necessary for their welfare.

I spent the other Sunday cleaning up my garden and I felled an old, straggly, banana tree. There was only one place for it to go. Ashley, the director of the Orangutan Foundation, helped me take it to the OCCQ, especially for Montana.

Montana with banana stalk

Struggling, we rammed the banana stalk as far as it would go into Montana’s enclosure. He reached out a massive hand, wrapped his sausage-sized fingers around the end of the stalk and, seemingly effortlessly, pulled it in. Then he set to work, peeling off the outer skin and slurping up the juicy central pith. And he did it for hours.

Some of the younger orangutans in the cage next to Montana’s pleased with their share of the banana tree.

This is meant as a simple story - what we did cost nothing, but it meant a great deal. Montana worked that stalked to its very end and he nested in the leaves for two nights.

By the way you’ll be relieved to hear, that as I type, it is raining outside – long may it continue!

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Last night I closed my blog by saying thank you for all your support. This morning there was an email from the UK office detailing exactly how much we had received in response to our appeal for ‘fire beaters’ (Muriel T $10, Tatsuya H $10, Christopher W $500, Sheryl B $10, Brigitta S $50, Francis D $20, Lucia C $100 and Theresa S (four donations totalling $250)).
I am afraid I understated my thanks:

Thank you all, very, very much!

Firstly, here’s the proof we are directing your money as stated.

The fire beaters kindly modelled by Abdi (left) and Devis (right).

We have 47 beaters almost ready - we just need to bolt the rubber to the poles, and there are lots more on order. Our aim is to have one beater per staff member along with buckets, jerry cans and hand sprayers. We also want to ensure we have enough beaters available, so they can be handed out to volunteers from close by villages, if there is a fire. Devis actually said “Now I’ll feel guilty if it rains!”. However, the tragic reality is, if not this month or even this year, we will need this fire fighting gear at some point on in the future and now we will be prepared.

The second thank you is due to Theresa who donated money for Malaria medicines. I spoke to the vets who said their greatest need was actually for oral antibiotics which they prefer to use instead of invasive injections. Also, if it is a sick free-ranging, rehabilitated orangutan that needs treatment, they can leave tablets with the field staff for mixing/hiding in food. The vets asked for “Marbocyl” which the UK office kindly procured. Ashley Leiman, Founder & Director of the Orangutan Foundation brought out the Marbocyl, with a lot of other supplies for the OCCQ, and gave them to Dr. Popo and Mrs Waliyati (Senior Administrator) on Saturday.

Dr Popo (in blue) and Mrs Waliyati (in red) with the OCCQ supplies.

OCCQ carers taking the orangutans out to the forest

Rerin, a carer at the OCCQ, with one of the many orphaned infants.

Theresa, I hope our buying an antibiotic not an anti-malarial is OK with you. After all, it is what we were told the little ones needed!

Once again thank you all very much for your support!

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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!

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