Orangutan Foundation

Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Lamdandau Vet, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Mar 03 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Please meet Dr. Fikri, our new vet, for the orangutans in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Mr Tigor our Orangutan Reintroduction Programme Manager, is on the left (reluctant to stand still and smile!) and Dr Fikri is on the right.

Dr Fikri is a graduate from the prestigious Bogor Agricultural Institute, Indonesia and, as part of his work experience, spent six months at the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine in 2004. His last job was vaccinating poultry against bird flu. While he felt it was a necessary task (the bird flu epidemic continues here) he says he could not wait to get back to wildlife work.

Dr Fikri’s clinic in Lamandau.

Accomodation

With funding from the Gemini Foundation we have established a small clinic and accomodation for him at Camp Gemini (again, generously funded by the Gemini Foundation), which is the most central of our five release camps, and we are in the process of acquiring all the necessary anaesthetics and other veterinary medicines. In the meantime, Fikri is being busy getting to know the orangutans. He has put Zidane on a special weight-gain diet. Zidane’s starting weight is 28kg and we’ll let you know as he improves.

I do have a request for you though. Please could you help us raise $250 - $300 that we need to buy two robust digital cameras? Tigor and Fikri require them for identifying orangutans and taking case photos. They promise to post their pictures on Wildlife Direct!

Here’s a sample of mine from my day out with them yesterday. I have no doubt Tigor and Fikri’s pictures would be better!

Thank you.

Gorzitze, an orangutan in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Released orangutan, Queen and her infant in Lamandau.

Tags: Borneo, Orangutans, Rehabilitation, vet

4 responses so far

Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 16 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

I am very pleased to be able to tell you that Zidane was re-release at Camp Buluh, in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, on 19 January. His recovery is down to the excellent care (which included two blood transfusions) he received from the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine facility.

Zidane - male orangutan re-released into Lamandau

Though Zidane appears happy to be back in the forest, he is being monitored very closely as he is still perilously thin. We obviously want to do all in our power to ensure he spends the rest of his life in the forest and so our new vet, Dr Fikri, has been tasked to develop a special dietary regime for him to ensure he gains weight. We’ll keep you updated on his progress.

Tags: Borneo, orangutan, Rehabilitation

2 responses so far

Category: Guard posts and patrols, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 12 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Camp Buluh is one of six orangutan release camps in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Since September 2006, 13 ex-captive orangutans have been reintroduced at Camp Buluh and three wild orangutans have been translocated from vulnerable situations outside the reserve.

Omang, one of the ex-captive adolescent male orangutans, seen regularly around Camp Buluh.

After the incident with Zidane (an update to follow soon) an orangutan holding cage has been built at Camp Buluh. This is necessary to allow the care and treatment of orangutans in Lamandau.

Camp Buluh and the orangutan holding cage.

The future for the orangutans in Lamandau looks encouraging. The Forestry Department’s involvement has increased and the reserve’s protection has been strengthened. The new guard post, called “Bird Lake Post” that was constructed to prevent access to into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve via the Buluh River became operational at the end of December. In 2008, only 3 cases of illegal logging were discovered, all outside of the reserve border. This is down from 2007 when 12 cases were identified in and around the reserve.

Map showing Camp Buluh and the guard posts in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve

We are extremely grateful to the Australian Orangutan Project for their continued support in Lamandau.

Tags: Borneo, orangutan, Rehabilitation

2 responses so far

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: Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Nov 28 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

To start with the fun stuff, I was over at the Care Centre today. As always I was saddened by the number of orangutans we have in captivity but I was still amused by some of their antics. Of course, I popped over to see Montana who I thought was looking particularly like King Kong.

A few of the hundreds of orangutans at the Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine

Montana

Unfortunately, my general mood was less than cheery. I don’t wish to burden you with my whinging but I am really fed up. For the whole of this year the electricity supply here in Pangkalan Bun has been abysmal but this month has been extraordinary. Every second day we suffer a four to five hour black out. Today, we had no electricity from 9 am to 4 pm, hence my trip to the Care Centre. Throw into the mix a truly awful internet connection and you have a recipe for frustration. Last night I had to do emails on a 14kbs dial-up connection.

I promised the UK Office I would be better at writing my blog more regularly. I hope you can understand now why it is not always so easy….

No doubt things will get better so thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest!

Stephen.

- Mara, thank you very much for your $50 donation.

Tags: Borneo, Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine, Rehabilitation

3 responses so far

Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP), Uncategorized | Date: Nov 19 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

It has been nearly a year since Stephen started this blog on the 23rd November 2007 and so far you have donated US$4,680 towards our programmes in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. This money has been spent on; buying medical supplies for the orangutans at the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine; for enclosure repairs (remember the escapees!); fire beaters and equipment to tackle forest fires in Tanjung Puting National Park; and more recently the new feeding system for released orangutans in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We are hoping to reach the $5,000 target by the end of November. What we really need at the moment or what the Indonesian field staff need is new equipment. On our donation bar under One Time donation there are the options Uniforms or Compass & Wrist Watch. A donation for one of these would be a practical and useful contribution towards our work. Please consider a donation to support our work this month.

On behalf of Orangutan Foundation in Indonesia and the UK thank you for your interest and support over the last year.

Cathy

(UK office)

Tags: Borneo, Orangutan Foundation, Orangutans

No responses yet

Category: Guard posts and patrols, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Rehabilitation | Date: Oct 24 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

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

Tags: Guard Posts, Lamdandau Wildlife Reserve, Orangutans

3 responses so far

Category: Guard posts and patrols, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Other wildlife, Rehabilitation | Date: Oct 10 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

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

Tags: Borneo, Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Wildlife

3 responses so far

Category: Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans | Date: Oct 04 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

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

Tags: Borneo, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Rehabilitation

4 responses so far

Category: Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Orangutans, Other wildlife, Uncategorized | Date: Sep 29 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

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

Tags: Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Rehabilitation

2 responses so far