Orangutan Foundation

Category: Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized | Date: Dec 24 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Some months ago one of our readers asked after an orangutan at the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine called Roland.

Roland

Roland came to us on 28 July 2004. Today, he is a boisterous 23 kg youngster. I am sorry it has taken me so long to ‘track him down’ but every other time I have been to the Care Centre recently he has been out in the nursery forest.

This week I also caught up with Violet who continues to grow and develop with no hint of her tragic start in life.

Violet with carer

Violet

One of our readers, Mara, who spent some time with us earlier in the year asked me to look out for Maggie, one of her favourite orangutans. Maggie was not an orangutan I knew, but she quickly became one of my favourites too.

Maggie

Zidane (see post A Very Sick Orangutan)was out in the forest. Though he is still very thin he is well on his way to making a complete recovery.

And that ended my ‘orangutan time’ for the year. I am now heading to Australia for Christmas with my family. I would like to thank you all for the support you have given us, and the interest you have shown in our work throughout the year. I wish you all very best for the festive season and every success for 2009. You’ll hear from us again early in the New Year.

Many thanks,

Stephen

Tags: Orangutans, Rehabilitation

6 responses so far

Category: Orangutans, Sumatran Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Dec 19 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Amy thanks for your question. Without entering into a debate about the value of zoos hopefully I can address part of your question. Stephen is currently very busy but he’ll hopefully blog again at the start of next week.

The assumption should not be made that just because orangutans spend a lot of time alone in the wild that this behaviour must be replicated in captivity. How solitary a wild orangutan is depends on factors such as food availability or type of forest habitat. For example, Sumatran orangutans are observed to be more social during times of increased fruit availability. If the habitat allows a higher density of orangutans then social behaviour is more likely to be observed. If food is scarce and long distances have to be travelled then orangutans don’t necessarily have the time or energy to invest in social interactions. Zoos often keep orangutans in small family groups, an adult female orangutan with her infant and perhaps juvenile offspring and this reflects a grouping that is observed in the wild.

What is certain is that there still remains a great deal to be learnt about this highly intelligent great ape!

Many thanks,

Cathy

Orangutan Foundation

Tags: captivity, Orangutans, social behaviour

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 17 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Here is the link to the BBC Radio 4’s science programme Leading Edge which features an interview with Stephen about the future of the orangutan. Stephen recently blogged about it in An Interview with Kusasi. The programme was broadcast on Thursday 11th December 2008 and Stephen’s interview is towards the end of the programme. Click here to go to the Leading Edge page and select the 11th December programme.

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 17 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

A very quick reply to recent comments…

Orangutans clearly recognise each other (Princess will always run from Siswi) but because they are generally semi-solitary and uncommunicative you rarely get the insight into whether there is recognition of a biological relationship.

Regarding the drinking of milk, orangutans naturally have a high-fibre, low protein diet with huge fluctuations in sugar intake, depending on the availability of fruit in the forest. It seems fair enough that orphaned, infant orangutans are bottle fed with milk made for human babies. Milk has always been given as supplimentary to the orangutan’s fruit and it has become part of the rehabilitant’s diet.

Abraham - orphaned infant

Tom - dominant male

Brigitta, good to know you still think of Siswi! Regarding post, the best thing to do is send anything to the London Office. I look forward to seeing the photos.

Orangutan Foundation
7 Kent Terrace
London NW1 4RP

Many thanks,

Stephen

4 responses so far

Category: Kampung Konservasi, Local Communities, Yayorin | Date: Dec 15 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

“By listening I know; By seeing I understand; By doing I make a difference.”

The children enthusiastically approached the two cows in their stable. In their hands were the newly-cut, fresh, green leaves. They waited impatiently for their turns, and their face lit up when the cows ate the leaves.

Feeding the cows is probably a simple and common thing for those who live in small villages and have cows. For these children from Islam Terpadu Elementary School, however, this simple thing became an extraordinary experience. It was probably the first time they ever saw a cow in their life. The participants on this visit were 1st grade students, 55 of them, and 5 of their teachers.

Feeding the cows was one of education activities we conducted during this school visit at Yayorin’s Kampung Konservasi. This outdoor learning focuses to integrate knowledge the children learn from school with some field experiences. This way, students not only understand the theories and facts, but most importantly, understand and respect the knowledge they receive.

Another activity that the children found very exciting was when they were asked to plant vegetable seeds. This time, they planted pokchai ( a type of vegetable similar to chinese spinach) in black polybags. With enthusiasm they grabbed handfuls of soil that was already mixed with organic compost and put it in the polybags. Each of them made a little hole on the soil with a finger, put one seed in it, and covered it with soil. Finally, they carefully watered the planted seeds. The children really loved it!

Other than feeding the cows and planting vegetable seeds, the children also watched an environmental movie in our little theatre and listened to story-telling in the library. The morning passed by very quickly, and everybody was sad when we had to say goodbye.

Kampung Konservasi tries to use nature as a learning ”canvas”…where simplicity and friendship with the environment are keys to understanding and respect. By giving opportunities for young people to express themselves and learn by doing, we are actually influencing their behaviors and future choices. In the long run, we hope that they can then influence others around them, including the adults. When that happens, the world will definitely be a better place!

Thank you,

Riyandoko (Education Facilitator) & Sally (Yayorin)

Tags: Borneo, education, Environment, Kampung Konservasi

No responses yet

Category: Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP) | Date: Dec 12 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Thank you for all your comments and I’ll do my best to respond to them soon.

Another interesting thing happened on Sunday at Camp Leakey: Siswi almost completely submerged herself in water. Orangutans can’t swim though they do wade. The rehabilitated, ex-captives at Camp Leakey will also play with water but that is probably a behaviour learnt from watching the staff. What made Sunday interesting was that Siswi spent so long in the water. She sat there for a good fifteen minutes and actually bobbed up and down so the water rose up to her chin.

Siswi - adult female orangutan in the river.

I am quite convinced she was simply trying to cool off. However, that does not fully explain a) quite how an orangutan’s natural wariness of water could be so totally overcome; let’s not forget there are crocodiles in these rivers and b) how an orangutan who instinctively shelters from rain, which makes them cold, would on another occasion use water for exactly that purpose.

Siswi sitting in the river

Who knows whether Siswi would have sat in the water for so long if we had not been there and it is not a huge intellectual leap to realise water makes you cold and you can choose when you want to be cool or dry. However, none of that dry scientific reasoning detracts from the interest: orangutans are fascinating!

Tags: Borneo, Camp Leakey, Orangutans

4 responses so far

Category: Orangutans, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP), Uncategorized | Date: Dec 11 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Firstly, a big thank you to Brigiatta for your monthly donation and Maciej for your donation of $100. As you recently visited Tanjung Puting National Park and Camp Leakey this post should hopefully be of interest to you.

In July, we discussed why the orangutan Riga shared her food with her mother, Rani. The reason may be biological or social but what is certain is that it is a rare event between adult orangutans; which is why it was surprising to see it happen again on Sunday – but this time with another twist.

Tom - dominant male

Tom is the undoubted King of Camp Leakey; the dominant male. He doesn’t have to share anything with anybody if he doesn’t want to. On Sunday, he sat down with his bucket of milk and proceeded to slurp away at it with Siswi looking enviously at him. Tut then came up, she had not been to the afternoon feeding so may have been hungry. Tut is Tom’s mother but subordinate to Siswi, so she approached warily.

Tom, however, passed over the bucket without hesitation (and all Siswi could do is continue to look on greedily!).

But what made all this doubly interesting is that it points to an answer to one of the big remaining questions of orangutan research: do they recognise their own parents/offspring? In reality, there is no more reason for Tom to share his milk with Tut than with Siswi (indeed, Tut is not in season but Siswi could be) and yet he did willingly. Why? It would be interesting to think Tom knows his mother and that was why he acted favourably towards her but like so much about orangutan behaviour we still have a lot to learn.

Thank you,

Stephen

PS Apologies for the rain spot on the photo.

Tags: Borneo, orangutan behaviour, Tanjung Puting National Park

5 responses so far

Category: Orangutans, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP), Uncategorized | Date: Dec 10 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Thanks to Georgina Kenyon who has written this short piece for us about her experience making the BBC radio programme.

“It’s embarrassing to say but I can’t remember being that interested in orangutans…until I saw the big male Kusasi coming straight for Stephen and me at the feeding platform at Camp Leakey.

What an animal!

I also loved walking through the forest, following the other orangutans as they were looking for food– those four hands and those eyes!

I’ll always remember my stay that night on the klotok and listening to the sounds of the Borneo jungle – the rowdy chainsaw beetles and the gibbons at first light and watching the butterflies and the birds of prey.

I have always thought the issues surrounding conservation can be very complicated - so many threats, so many issues.

Yet I was impressed by the pragmatism of the staff at the Orangutan Foundation; they made all the problems facing the jungle appear manageable.

A big ‘thankyou’ to all the team at the Orangutan Foundation-everyone went out of their way to help me make the BBC radio programme.”

Tags: Camp Leakey, Kusasi, Tanjung Puting National Park

No responses yet

Category: Orangutan Foundation Staff, Orangutans | Date: Dec 03 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

One of the rules of working around orangutans is to never get within arm’s reach of them.  On Saturday, in the middle of an interview with a journalist, I was horrified to find Kusasi less than 2m away and coming straight at us. If I was horrified, I dread to think what the journalist thought!  Her tape contains the memorable line “Time to GO!” 

The problem was we were watching Unyuk and her baby who were joined by Uning and Ukraine.  When we arrived at the feeding station Unyuk, who has a reputation for being naughty, was sitting peacefully with Mr Otter.  They looked like two neighbours having a chat.  Mr Een then walked up and Unyuk went over to say hello to him.  Shortly afterwards, Uning and Ukraine swung in.  Uning is Unyuk’s daughter so we were looking at three generations of their family:  Unyuk the mother and grandmother; Uning the daughter and Ukraine the grandchild.  It was a captivating sight.

Rather too captivating:  never forget what is going on behind you!  Een’s eyes went wide and he slide off to the side. I turned around and there was Kusasi. All I could see was him!  I won’t say he was going for us, but I will say he was moving in a straight line for Uning and we were in the way.  Look at the photos:  the vine Uning is holding onto at the start is the very same one Kusasi is on: she had the sense to get out of his reach.

I grabbed the microphone case and pushed the journalist with my other hand.  Kusasi passed behind us stopping in the spot recently vacated by Uning.  Once heart-rate and blood pressure had returned to normal we got some photos.  Just look at the size of his arm! 

That evening, I left the journalist to spend a night on her boat in the park, and I travelled back to Pangkalan Bun.  The sunset was spectacular.  The sky was every shade of red which was reflected off the still black-water of the Sekonyer River.  It felt as though we were speeding through fire. 

Back at the office, I saw the education team had returned from their field trip.  From the state of the car it looked like they had had their own adventures! After all of which, I would like to say thank you to Julie (Art for Gorillas) and Adam Hardy for their sympathetic comments.  Adam, I agree with you: there is no comparison between an 8mb broadband internet connection and a fast-moving 120 kg male orangutan.  I’ll stop complaining.

5 responses so far