Orangutan Foundation

Category: Belantikan Conservation Programme, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Lamdandau Vet, Oil Palm Plantations, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans | Date: Nov 19 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

The translocation of the young female orangutan (we rescued her last week from an oil palm plantation) to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve is planned for this week. The young orangutan was named “Memes” by Tigor, Orangutan Reintroduction Manager.  Dr Fiqri, our vet, has said Memes is healthy and clear from worms and can leave the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine facility for the Lamandau reserve.

Hopefully we’ll have more news from Hudi on his return from the stakeholder meetings in the Belantikan Hulu region. 

Thanks for your recent comments Theresa, Amy and Wanda (very sorry to hear about your dog Wanda but glad we could bring you some good news).

Thanks for all your support,

Cathy - Orangutan Foundation

 Please support our ‘Protect Me and My Tree Appeal’

Tags: Borneo, Endangered, Orangutans, vet, Wildlife

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Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Nov 10 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

This week is Orangutan Awareness Week - join us to raise awareness and funds for orangutan conservation.

This Thursday 12th is Orange for Orangutan Day - wear something orange or do something orange for the day - you can download posters or get more ideas from our website.

All money raised will go towards our Protect Me and My Tree Appeal - helping to keep orangutans that have been released in to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve in the wild, where they belong.

Protect Me and My Tree!  Photo -Orangutan Foundation 

Do something for orangutans this week - spread the word, leave a message of support, join our pub quiz or make a donation!

A huge thank you from all of us at the Orangutan Foundation, in Indonesia and the UK.

Tags: Awareness, Indonesia, orange day, Orangutans, Wildlife

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Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Lamdandau Vet, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Nov 02 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Brian Diary, October 27^th 2009 by Hudi WD

I am pleased to tell you that the adoption process between the female Bornean orangutan, Rosa and the infant orangutan, Brian is going very well.

Brian was confiscated from an oil palm plantation and was taken to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve where he was introduced to adult female orangutan Rosa (see post A Wild Life). Rosa immediately took to Brian, but Brian was a little bit nervous with the whole process.

Now Brian is looking healthy, really cool and smart! He is very active to move and play inside the adoption cage (Rosa and Brian are in cage just temporarily to help the adoption process).

Some times Brian is swinging in the cage and sometimes he reaches to Rosa if he needs attention from her.

Tigor (the Lamandau Orangutan Reintroduction Manager) said Brian has the real “wild instinct” and he will grow to be a leader. Brian has started to become closer to Rosa and this was shown when Utang (staff from Camp Siswoyo) tried to hold Rosa’s hand, Brian moved and tried to pull Rosa’s hand away. 

He has also started to imitate Rosa’s behaviour. He is very smart and really funny when he moved and copied just like Rosa did.

Dr Fiqri (the Lamandau Orangutan Reintroduction Vet) said the adoption process was in good progress and in approximately 10 to 15 days he hopes Rosa and Brian will be returned to Camp Gemini and living free out of the cage, we hope it will be done as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Hudi WD

Programme Co-ordinator -Orangutan Foundation

Tags: Borneo, forests, Orangutans, vet, Wildlife

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Category: Orangutan Foundation Staff, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP) | Date: Oct 28 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

During the Steppes Discovery study tours (August and September 2009), Ashley Leiman, the Orangutan Foundation Director, played a joke with the “strange fruit” of Tanjung Puting (Indonesian Borneo) forest!The outside of the fruit looks very strong and hard. Ashley asked “who can break it with just your thumb?” The study tour participants tried to push their thumb into the fruit with all their power and then…Puffff….the fruit suddenly explodes over them.Exploding fruit - a study tour participant falls for the trick as the inside of the fruit explodes over his face! Photo by Orangutan Foundation.Greetings and huge thanks to all of the study tour participants from Orangutan Foundation Pangkalan Bun office, your support and donations are very helpful for orangutan and its habitat conservation and also for the local community.Regards,Hudi WD(Orangutan Foundation Programme Co-ordinator)

Tags: Borneo, trips, visits, Wildlife

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Category: Forest Fires, Orangutans | Date: Aug 27 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

We have just heard from Ashley Leiman, Orangutan Foundation’s Director, who is currently in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo that, as of today (27^th August 2009), the local Department of Forestry has sent out fire fighting teams to localized fire hot spots.

The area where our field programmes are based has received virtually no rain for seven to eight weeks and all the rivers are extremely low. Ashley, who was calling from the Orangutan Foundation office in Pangkalan Bun, said “there is the smell of smoke in the air”. Orangutan Foundation has guard posts equipped with fire fighting equipment and our employees are alert and ready to take action if necessary.

Over two weeks ago we launched an appeal on behalf of our partners, CIMTROP (Centre for International Cooperation in the Management of Tropical Peatland), working in the Sebangau Forests.  Thank you to everyone who responded so quickly and generously, your donations will be directed to CIMTROP, who are working around the clock to tackle the raging fires.

Orangutan Foundation is now widening this fire appeal to include other forest areas at risk.

Tags: Borneo, Forest Fires, Indonesia, Orangutans, Wildlife

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Category: Orangutan Foundation Staff, Uncategorized | Date: Apr 20 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Tal B and Brigitta thank you very for your monthly donations and thank you Anne K for your donation of $100.

It was Stephen’s leaving do (My Fun In The Forest Is Drawing To An End) on Saturday night - we await the photos! Meanwhile here’s a selection of photos of Stephen at ‘work’.

Wishing you all the best for the future Stephen,

Orangutan Foundation - UK office

Another hard day at the office

Not sure if this is taken before of after Stephen’s skydive in an orangutan suit - after I think!

Stephen and Mr Hudi

Operation on the adult male orangutan Kusasi

Stephen and Zidane

Stephen climbing up a radio mast

You’ll be missed!

Tags: Borneo, conservationist, Orangutans, Wildlife

2 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: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Other wildlife | Date: May 16 2008 | By: orangutanfoundation

Releasing caged wildlife is rarely anyone’s idea of fun. Panic-stricken animals tend to lash out and they don’t have claws, teeth and talons for nothing. Which is why, yesterday, finding an eagle, a snake and two macaques caught in fish traps provided a challenging finish to the day. As always, I must apologise for the photos; but this time we did have a good excuse; we were all a bit too busy to take photos. So, thank you Rene (a peat forest researcher) for taking the ones below.

The fish traps were made of a wooden frame wrapped in netting with an inverted slit through which fish can enter but can not escape. Because the water level in the Mangkung River, the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, has dropped so much the traps were exposed and the fish inside had obviously tempted the monkeys and the crested-serpent eagle in for an easy meal. Certainly, I have never seen animals caught in them before.

Jak, the Lamandau Patrol Manager and I tackled the eagle first, only to find there was a small python in the trap as well. I was certain that as we cut away the netting the eagle would either peck or slash with its talons, which were wrapped in the netting. Amazingly, once the roof was cut away the bird freed its feet and flew out right in front of our faces, without scratching either of us.

Crested serpent-eagle caught in a fish trap (photo by Rene Dommain).

The python was half way through the netting but having gorged on the trapped fish had a bulge three quarters of the way down its body, which would not fit through the mesh. Jak was all for leaving it and I have to say as its head twisted around I thought he had a point. However, as it was, the snake would be a sitting target for the next eagle to come along. So trying to keep the sharp edge away from its skin, I slid my knife in between the snake and the netting and cut it free. Great, we were now in the water with a python and neither of us wanted to think about crocodiles!

Juvenile macaque caught in a fish trap - once freed he swam away (photo by Rene Dommain).

The macaques were about 100m downstream. In one trap there was a juvenile and on the opposite riverbank, an adult female, thrashing around madly. We were able to free the youngster and I swam over to cut out the female. Again, having some experience of macaques, I thought as soon as the top was open she would come flying out and bite. My dulcet tones did nothing to calm her and, as I cut away each side, she would retreat into the opposite corner ensuring she was always under netting until the whole top was cut off. Only then did she come out.

It was obviously our lucky day for instead of flying out as predicted she actually dove down and swam away under the water. We saw her pop up and climb out, maybe, 15m away.

Four animals released without injury to either them or us. Not bad. Then I scrapped all the skin off my shin climbing back into the boat!

Nancy M., thank you very much for your donation of $50, that you made at the end of April, your support is much appreciated.

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Tags: Borneo, primates, traps, Wildlife

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