Doris' Jungle Training Day One

The most exciting thing to happen this month….

…..Doris took the first of several journeys into the jungle!

We’ve started ta snippet of some of the videos we took on the first day to the site

A word of caution before you watch though, don’t be expecting a free Willy or born free moment. Rehabilitation of orangutan is a notoriously labour intensive project; Doris doesn’t make a bolt for the first tree she sees and brachiate smoothly off to freedom….
In fact we’re not even successful in getting her to let go of us. What you’ll see is the very first baby step in getting her out and into the treeline; after 7 years, for Doris, it is an amazingly big one.

What will follow is hopefully weeks rather than months of getting her to acclimatize to what for her is an alien environment and grow in confidence; untill Hillary and Jugah can teach her what she needs to know.

I only found out as we sat on the platform that even as an infant the keepers were never able to get Doris away from the centre & on subsequent attempts we haven’t always been able to get her as far as we did the first time. However from now on every day Doris will be going out and even if to start with it is only for a single minute and a single yard into the jungle as long as in a week’s time we can make it two, rehabilitation is a step closer.

A lot of people have told us in the past that they do not think Doris can be rehabilitated, that it will be too hard, as she’s too old and too human-centric and I’ve always categorically refused to accept this. I’ve never based my rebuttal on scientific expertise or experience (though I pay them close heed) but on something older than science. Anyone that has met me will know I have a bit of a soft spot for Doris and that she was the first orangutan I connected with when I came to Borneo.

I see Doris’ wings and for all the pleasure it brings me to be around her it pains me daily to know that they’ve been prematurely clipped by captivity. With forestry’s finest, Hillary, her lifelong friend, Jugah, and with the continued funding & indefatigable help volunteers bring I would encourage all others equally enraptured with Doris to watch this year’s progress and see if we can’t teach her to fly again.

Personally I was so lucky to have been a part of that first day, we wanted Jugah to take her up as he is to be her mentor, but when they tried the day before and a few times that morning the centre was too busy with visitors or Doris was just too shy to come out.

It was chance that kept me delayed at a meeting all morning and luck in later passing a man on the road selling (expensive) durian. Chance and luck together brought me Alvin and Eddie to that platform to try one last time for the day at a time Doris when was ready to go and I’m honored to have been in her company for this event.

Tempting Doris out of her Enclosure

At the feeding platform

Ting San plays whilst Doris is busy eating

Doris eating a durian

Doris decides to go back to the centre

If you cant see the videos click here

Thank you to all our past volunteers, without who this amazing progress would not have been possible.

Leo