Matang Wildlife Centre continues to improve

This month, the quarantine area went through a full revamp as each quarantine cage was redone. We had some disgruntled monkeys whilst the ironwork was welded and the shut-offs remade. This is yet another step forward for Matang Wildlife Centre in its quest to become a centre of excellence for Sarawak Forestry. New arrivals now have better facilities and can expect better care.

A very special orangutan rehabilitation moment - Doris the teenager

In the orangutan conservation world, it is generally a rule of thumb that only baby orangutans should be rehabilitated back into the wild. Teenage orangutans are considered to old and unmanageable for the rehabilitation process. We have experts in the past that have failed to achieve anything with our very own teenager, Doris. Doris was so humanised after years of captivity that rehabilitation was considered impossible by many. One expert even diagnosed her with vertigo!

However, on Wednesday 22nd of October, a date etched into orangutan conservation history, the Great Orangutan Project's very own Leo Biddle, along with Sarawak Forestry's courageous keepers, Hillary and Eddie, managed to spend a night in the forest at the 'Piers Mott' Ranger Station with teenage orangutan, Doris. Here's the update from Leo himself:

"On Wednesday 22nd we managed to convince Doris to spend her first night ever in the jungle, at the newly completed Piers Mott Ranger Station previous volunteers have worked so hard to build.


Doris out in the jungle

For much of the last year Doris has been going out on excursions into the forest under supervision, but until Wednesday has always been brought back to the orangutan dens at night.

Unlike Ting San and Mamu, who have spent many nights out already, we have been waiting for Doris’ confidence in the forest to increase before making her take this important next step towards eventual release.

At points in her training prior we have kept her in the jungle until the light begins to fade before bringing her back in. On these occasions she has generally made it emphatically clear that she does not wish to remain in the jungle at night and Doris’ size and considerable strength are very effective at making points emphatically!
A part of this is due to fear of the unfamiliar; the jungle at night is very different to during the day with different noises and insects – indeed when we have taken previous volunteers on night walks or to camp out there, several of them have found it to be a frightening or challenging experience…

Another factor of course is a break from the routine. Captive orangutan, just like other animals including humans, can quickly become habituated to a daily regime prevalent to their confinement and despite our continuing efforts on enrichment for the last 9 years – Doris has slept at night in a cage.

When she was first taken into the jungle back in December 2007 it was a wholly new experience for her and one that took her time to adjust to; until now it would be fair to say that she enjoys her days spent in jungle training. In time we hope to persuade her that sleeping in the jungle at night can be equally enriching and rapidly become routine.

Doris seemed to be suspicious when we hoisted her over her enclosure wall much later than normal; but presented with the prospect of accompanying three of her favourite keepers into the jungle she was content to follow.

On arrival at the new station, Doris acted as though it had always been there; promptly going up to the door and even knocking!


Knock knock, who's there? Doris at the Piers Mott Ranger Station

Shortly after arriving at the station the light rapidly began to fade; aside from a few gentle shoves to remind us we really ought to be heading back and slightly more wistful stares back in the direction we had came from Doris was surprisingly relaxed at the impending night out of doors.

We later all agreed that she probably knew what we were taking her out for around the time we lowered a rope over her wall back at the centre.


Wistful stares

We’d half expected that Doris would forcibly demand to spend the night in the ranger station with us when it got dark; but wanted to avoid setting a precedent. So we were pleased that after a half-hearted attempt to break in she promptly climbed onto the roof and went to sleep.

The whole night passed uneventfully and we were woken at first light by Doris knocking on the door again.


The morning after

Doris was in exceptionally high spirits and showed no signs of distress or fatigue from her night out, in fact it was our intention to take her straight back to the centre as soon as we woke, however Doris seemed intent on staying in the jungle even taking to the trees of her own volition.

So after feeding her on her new platform that the Orangutan Release group in September built we spent most of the morning letting her climb before bringing her back in.


Doris gets used to the new feeding platform

On the 10th of November we plan to bring her back out to the ranger station with the centre's baby orangutan, Ting San and Mamu, and keep the three of them there for a one week trial before eventually releasing them all there under 24 hour supervision.


We can confirm that Doris does not have vertigo

We’ll be sure to keep you posted with how it all goes."


Click here for The Great Orangutan Project website - Volunteer Projects for All

Great Orangutan Project looks to Indonesia

For the last few years, The Great Orangutan Project has focused its activities in Borneo, but on the Malaysian side on the island. The reason has been simple, the environmental laws are enforced relatively well which means that protected orangutans have a far better chance of survival.

Just across the border, in Indonesia, the destruction has continued unabated meanwhile. The terms "corruption, collusion and nepotism" are famous in Indonesian society, and for a very good reason, because they are rife. I heard recently a statistic that 70% of protected national parks have been illegally logged, and it would seem that this is done with the collaboration of the army. A sad state of affairs and a deeply depressing one.

Against this backdrop, many conservation charities have been working hard to rescue orangutans that have been the victims of this habitat destruction, and black market for pets, in Indonesia. They have done a fantastic job but without backing from the local Government it has been a losing battle. Indonesia is a vast area of land divided into thousands of islands. It is not easy to manage such a country and so power is devolved, which means that each province has its own Government, like the United States of America that is divided into States. Each province has its own powers, the a lot of flexibility to ignore laws from the main Government in Jakarta. Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, is particular rife with corruption which has made the task of conservation extremely difficult.

With all this in mind, The Great Orangutan Project has decided to get involved in a very difficult situation. By staying out of Indonesia we will not be able to make any change. Only together can we overcome the corrupt and illegal practices that turn most Indonesians' stomachs. We are now looking for volunteer projects in Indonesia and we hope to start something in 2009.

There is hope. Attention is focused on Indonesia. It is widely recognised that Indonesia is the world's 3rd worst polluter for greenhouse gases (after the USA and China) because of deforestation and forest fires. Many people are pressurising the Indonesia Government and Provincial authorities. The Indonesians voted for a president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2004. He vowed to tackle corruption that has plagued Indonesia for years. So far he has had some notable successes and the head of the police has arrested hundreds of illegal loggers, including some big names. The destruction is not over yet, but there is hope and The Great Orangutan Project thinks this is a good time to make a move. Stayed tuned, there may soon be a way for you to volunteer and make a difference for the orangutans in the heart of the destruction.


Click here for The Great Orangutan Project website
Volunteer Projects for All

The Life of a Volunteer at Zoo Negara (National Zoo of Malaysia)

At The Great Orangutan Project, we also work in zoos as part of our drive to help promote conservation education and animal enrichment . Here is the experience of one of our volunteers, Lucy Fisher.

As Lucy was the only zoo assistant this month she chose to spend her first 2 weeks with the other orangutan group (Orangutan Encounters Project) at the Ape Centre. She therefore contributed to all the enrichment activities there as well as working really hard at cleaning. After the Orangutan Encounters group left she helped complete the following activities around the rest of the zoo……

Painting concrete tunnels in the tiger exhibit
At the request of the carnivore section supervisor we painted the ugly concrete tunnel in the Sumatran tiger exhibit in an attempt to make it look a bit more natural. We used a weather proof base coat and then spray painted using leaves as stencils to try and make the concrete blend in with the rest of the exhibit.

Before



After




Cleaning out the rat and mouse cages at Reptiles
They might only be food for the reptiles but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a decent quality of life. We found the rats and mice in a terrible state so spent an afternoon cleaning out three big holding tanks so we could transfer the rodents out of the trays they were being kept in. It was a horrible job and we removed around 50 bodies from the tanks and trays, not to mention about a million fleas. But seeing the rats settled in a new, clean and spacious home (right) made it all worth while. Well done to Lucy for getting stuck in and doing a job that many others wouldn’t.

Mammal Kingdom
We spent two days at mammal kingdom, mostly helping to scrub out night dens but also carrying out a few enrichment activities. This included making blood ice blocks for the hyenas, fruit and meat ice blocks for the binturongs and a fish ice bock for the otter that doesn’t go out. The hyenas were a bit unsure about the blocks (right), and the binturongs didn’t touch theirs though they were salivating loads and smelling around the blocks they didn’t seem to be able to figure them out. Looks like we need another idea for binturong enrichment! The real success though was the otter (left) who got so excited about his ice block I thought he might pop with joy! We put it in his water trough and he had great fun trying to catch it, squeaking and squealing the whole time. As it defrosted he realised there were prawns in it which he wasn’t sure about at first but eventually decided were delicious. The next day Lucy made a new ice block by stuffing a piece of bamboo with prawns and freezing it. This was even more of a challenge but the little otter loved every minute! So rewarding!



Our final project at mammal kingdom was to install a couple of bamboo feeders into the racoon exhibit. Racoons are very resourceful and good at figuring out puzzles, so we took two pieces of giant bamboo and using a drill made a few paw-sized holes in the different segments. We then hung one vertically and one horizontally in the exhibit. The racoons were even faster than we thought and had their paws in the holes before we’d even finished hanging the feeders! We filled the bamboo with pieces of fruit and meal worms and stood back as the racoons tried to get their tasty treats. The horizontal feeder was fairly easy, but they found the vertical one more challenging as it kept moving around. It was fun to watch and hopefully we can encourage the keepers to put food in the bamboo on a regular basis so the racoons have to work for it.

Ice blocks for Otters
As well as making ice blocks for the otter at mammal kingdom, we also made fish and prawn blocks for the 8 otters in the exhibit. We gave the otters their treats on hari raya to a large crowd of tourists who really enjoyed watching the otters’ antics as they first stampeded into the pool and then chased the frozen blocks around in the water. Lucy also made one giant blood ice block which we gave to the Sumatran tigers. She worked hard during her month with us and will now go on to spend her second month at Taiping zoo.

Doris

When The Great Orangutan Project first started our orangutan volunteer programme with Sarawak Forestry at Matang Wildlife Centre in 2005, many experts were convinced that Doris, a young adult female of 6 years of age at the time, would spend the remainder of her days in captivity. The logic was that she had been too close to humans, that she would always return to the safety and comfort of the centre. Outwardly, she was also terrified of the jungle which led one expert to declare she had vertigo!

However, for us the choice was simple. There is little conservation outcome to be gained by leaving a happy Doris in an enclosure to wave at passing tourists – so, if we can manage it safely for her, she would go back out.

3 years on, and a lot of time-in-the-jungle afterwards, we and the staff at Matang Wildlife Centre are convinced that this wonderful orangutan has a future in the trees. Doris continues to make her forays into the jungle and her behaviour there is improving markedly; however there is still a long way to go. Unlike other orangutans, Doris does not want a jungle existence. This has been witnessed numerous times in other orangutans at other rehabilitation centres and it can be overcome.


Doris with young Mamu, a 3 year old female. Pairing orangutans together is a successful strategy which increases their confidence to stay out in the jungle and allows them to share survival techniques.

Previously the issue had been that Doris would panic, turn and make a run for the centre, often at the fringe of the jungle boundary. The solution has been to physically carry her far enough into the jungle that it is too late to turn back. Given the opportunity, she will face up to any challenge if she is with someone familiar to her.

At first we needed to only carry her 100m or so and she would be happy after that to follow on foot; but as time wore on, and she had grown more familiar with the territory, she was simply walk back to the centre. Occasionally she would go back into her night den and shut the door.

Cunning was needed. Doris is almost fully grown and extremely strong and therefore cannot be allowed to wander around the centre unchecked. At the start of the month we were finding it necessary to carry Doris 2-3km into the jungle before being able to put her down, not easy with a 47kg orangutan. Until about midway through we decided to use the volunteers as bait for her. Sending them up ahead with food was generally enough to motivate Doris into exploring the jungle owing to the novelty of the situation. This will discontinue as we need Doris to get over humans but at the moment it seems to work wonderfully in getting her to explore her natural habitat.

Doris is doing very well. She is nowhere near as scared as she initially was. When out she will eventually wander off and even climb a tree. All of the other orangutans are happy and healthy and the centre is looking at how we can get these adults out into the trees as well as the adolescents. Together they will learn the skills of the jungle, and eventually live wild. Orangutans are far from extinct in the rainforests of Sarawakian Borneo.

Rehab Training for the Young Orangutans

Our two young orangutan, Ting San and Mamu, continued to go out most days as a pair for their jungle training at our nearby feeding platforms with two of our rehabilitation officers Hillary and Jugah. Mamu has practically doubled in bodyweight since our orangutan expert recommended separating her from her companions in her enclosure and has improved tremendously.

Though still young, Mamu continually impresses us all with her degree of jungle expertise, and serious rehab has proven to be the best thing to ever happen to Ting San.



Unless the weather is particularly bad the two of them will generally stay out all day in the surrounding forest generally coming back in around 4 or 5 in the early evening; Mamu’s affinity for the tree tops is successfully rubbing off on Ting San and she now spends less and less time seeking out human contact at ground level and emulating Mamu’s superior climbing technique in the canopy.

Things are extremely positive for the both of them.

Providing Alternative Incomes for Local Communities

Matang Wildlife Centre has begun an agro-farming scheme for the local community with the offspring of some of its resident deer population.

The Samba deer breed exceptionally well in captivity and Matang Wildlife Centre is currently somewhat overpopulated with them. Rather than castrating the resident population the Sarawak Forestry Corporation and The Great Orangutan Project have formulated a plan to donate breeding pairs of deer along with the necessary training, licenses and infrastructure to farm them; to the communities around our park boundaries.

This will provide the local community with a sustainable source of income and food source and consequently reduce the pressure on poorer communities to resort to illegal means of protein supplement.



It is hoped that this community outreach program will not only be of direct benefit to the communities themselves but will foster a greater sense of understanding and assistance between them and the National Park.

By fostering goodwill between all parties and the derived economic benefit, it is hoped that the communities around the park will be more engaged in the conservation work at Matang Wildlife Centre and will be willing to support our planned animal release and training program. It is envisioned that this could be in the form of additional security, monitoring and reporting on animals released into the park and by removing some of the threats to certain species from human predation.

Ilford & Kingston Primary School Contribute to the Great Orangutan Project

Dear Children & Staff of Ilford & Kingston Primary School

On behalf of Ting San (Gus) and the staff at Matang Wildlife Centre; I would like to thank you all very much for your time and effort to help Ting San; and congratulate you all on your swimathon raising such a wonderful contribution. For all to know, Emily and Tom Clifford from Ilford & Kingston Primary School of year 5 and 6, had visited Ting San (Gus) at Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak Malaysian Borneo under the Great Orangutan Project. At that time, Ting San was an orphaned baby and rescued and brought to the centre for care. Emily and Tom returned and inspired their school to continue the fundraising. After raising funds last year the children have yet again made the effort for Ting San, this time collecting £631 from a swimathon at the school.



Ting San is doing very well in her rehabilitation training and she is much bigger now than when Tom and Emily last saw her; almost twice the size.

Ting San has grown enough for her to now be taken out into the jungle everyday with another orangutan her own age, Mamu, where they have both continued to develop their natural behaviour.

In February and March she spent her first nights away from the centre; sleeping in specially made nests suspended high in the trees with Mamu; with one of our rehabilitation officers sleeping on the ground below.

In April they both stayed out in the jungle for 20 nights in a row! Since their rehabilitation is progressing so well; we plan to move them into the jungle permanently around August/September time.



They will be taken to a remote ranger station deep in the jungle by our keepers who will feed and keep watch over them 24 hours a day for the next few years until they are ready to live on their own.

Before we do release Ting San into the trees we intend to fit her with a tracking device; so that we can follow her progress in the jungle. Whilst we are still finalising what sort of device is best to use; I think it would be an excellent idea to use your contribution towards it when the time comes. This way we can send you all updates on where she is and what she is doing even after it becomes too difficult for us to keep up with or photograph her.

I include some up to date photographs of Ting San and her friend Mamu training in the jungle and we will keep you updated from time to time on how she is doing and where she is.

Thank you Ilford and Kingston School, once again for thinking of and caring for such a special infant so far away from your homes. Kindness and help like yours touches all of us here very much and gives us confidence for a long and happy life for Ting San in the trees.

Warm regards


The Great Orangutan Project team
On behalf of Ting San