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.

Doris in a tree after 3 days!

It’s only a quick visit to the tree but it is her first – this is massive progress for an orangutan her age and it’s only her 3^rd day of rehabilitation and visiting the jungle. We were expecting it to be a month before she got this far.

To start off with we had trouble getting Doris to let go of me so the two other keepers, Hilary and Jugah, moved to the second feeding platform to tempt her with coconut…but this is quickly spotted by Ting San.

After an hour of me ignoring her and Jugah calling her we had a break through and Doris touched her first tree. After this Hilary prepared some more bait so we could take this into the trees ourselves. After watching me up a tree for a long time and thinking about it she watches Hilary go up too and then amazingly she climbs a series of ropes up into her first tree and is high off the ground.

She comes back down for reassurance and although only a short visit this progress is huge.

Keep your eye for glimpses of Ting San whose happily plays whilst we tempt Doris.

Watch the videos here:

Or visit our Orangutan Project Channel on YouTube

Leo

An update from Leo

New Years Day 2008

Well it may be the end of December and the end of the year; but it’s very much the start of the next stage of the great orangutan project’s endeavours at the Matang Wildlife and Rehabilitation Centre, as we enter phase two of our involvement here.

Before I can talk about what’s new I have to extend our thanks to everyone who made getting this far possible.

The November group of volunteers was Keith & Caroline’s last; I think that every volunteer and visitor that met them will know what an asset they were in assisting the centre to raise animal husbandry standards. They were also the custodians of the project on the ground for us and the face of WOX to our volunteers. In all things the effort and hours they contributed cannot be understated; without them successfully completing the infrastructural phase of the project we would not be able to begin our part in the rehabilitation of animals at MWC.
Thanks also to the Forestry dept, Matt, Wong, Lisa, James, Laurence and Heather for your invaluable help along the way.

Mostly though a tremendous thank you to each and every one of our past volunteers!
It is impossible for me to articulate how interminably grateful we are to you all.
This isn’t a job for any of us; it is an attempt to make a positive difference towards the conservation of endangered species, particularly the orangutan, within Borneo & that’s no small feat.
We undertake this challenge because we believe that there are people like us, who, wanting the same will give their time, money & sweat into making it happen.
There is not a single thing we have done, or will do, that could have been done without you.
Thank you is an understatement.

As for December……..
Well all of the new staffs are settling in very nicely.

One of WOX’s rehabilitation officers Hillary has been taking his charge, Ting San, out to the jungle feeding platforms every day for rehabilitation training and has begun to teach her how to make nests. He and I have begun an entirely natural diet for her (with the addition of milk) & we make up a nest for her in her night-den each evening to return to and familiarize herself with the feeling of sleeping amidst leaves.

We unsuccessfully tried this with our older females; but will need to be a little more inventive as they simply destroyed the ones we made for them.

We were both concerned that Mamu is a little underweight given that she is nearly 3 years old. Chiam stopped producing milk shortly after returning to the centre so we have decided to bottle feed milk formula to her and her daughter as Hillary feels this is the easiest way to start her lactating again and even if it fails it will be extra nutrition for Mamu.
Much easier said than done though as both Chiam and Ganti always try to steal whatever you are giving to Mamu; but we’ve managed to get milk to Mamu each day so far.

We’ve also recruited another experienced orangutan rehabilitator out of his recent retirement to fill the hole left by Hillary’s departure from Semenggoh (our sister sanctuary)

Our volunteer coordinator Alvin has been perhaps the busiest of us all helping me with doing all of the jobs we would normally rely on volunteers to undertake. After he’s fed, cleaned and medicated all of his charges; he’s out in the jungle looking for wild fruits and nesting materials. Then each afternoon we’ve been giving all of the animals their enrichment before preparing the clinic for the new WOX veterinarian.

(Thanks to Marcia from the last two groups for all of your enrichment ideas I’ve tried several & got the papier-mâché, forage mats & seaweed nests to work J You’ll be interested to know that the eldest female pig tail appeared to dominate on the feeds and that we can move/bribe them from one cage to another quite easily. Also the bears & binturong really loved the blood; which we spread around their enclosure or gave in ice blocks)

At the moment we are hiding all of the orangutan & bear feeds either in puzzles or distributed around their enclosures & high on the feeding platforms in order to amuse and make them work for their food; particularly Aman.
As soon as we have more volunteer hands on the ground again we’ll extend that to all of animals.

Alvin has also been helping me and the contractors with the new sun bear rehabilitation night dens; where the welding has been hampered a little by continual rain and recurrently failing electrical supply; but as I write this there is now only the roof left to go. And as Heather rightly said to me today, there are four bears that are going to have a very Happy New Year

A provisional & flexible release plan has been agreed for the deer, and most orangutan Chiam, Ganti, Doris & Mamu and volunteer work for the beginning of next year will be focused on making this happen.
The keepers, Alvin and I have been spending a long time traipsing around the deepest areas of Matang and Kubah & have selected a location that is far enough away from human habitations and the centre to consider suitable for releasing, feeding and monitoring Chiam.
Along with making ready for our new orange arrivals; the first of whom, a 17yr old male, is due in January.

Guillaume & I attended the Hornbill conference for conservation in Sarawak where Francis Gombek (forestry dept) & I presented our rehabilitation plan for all of the sun bears. We’ll put this up on the site for those that are interested in January along with video of their January transfer and the beginning of the rehabilitation training.

I spent four days over Christmas in the deep jungles of Batang Ai (the long term full wild release site for orangutan successfully rehabilitated at Matang) & received a wonderful present from one of the local Iban communities we work with; when they formally agreed with WOX to no longer hunt any animals for food, apart from the wild boar.

Mr Jugah (who many volunteers may know as Apai) also retired from the forestry department at the end of this year. Since he hand-reared Chiam, Ganti, Doris & most of the orangutans MWC have previously released; we felt that we needed his experience and animal relationships a little bit longer (At least until we have released & integrated Chiam & Ganti as he’s the only person who can safely handle them right now)
So WOX have made him an offer he can’t refuse and taken him on as our third rehabilitation officer. His job with us at the moment is to concentrate solely on Doris and throughout the next 6 months he’ll continue to take her out to the feeding platforms every day for as long as we can keep her there.

One last thank you to almost two years of volunteers; you all brought funding in order for us to be here and provide animals like Aman and Doris with opportunities, you brought your energy to mix cement or lay down boardwalk & brick in tropical heat.

Most of all though you brought the animals, the staff & this centre your love and that is what you bring best.

Happy New Year

Leo and all at Matang

Mission with a Passion

Leo Biddle, our Borneo Manager, as taken part in a feature on Matang Wildlife Centre and the Great Orangutan Project for the Borneo Post.

Borneo Post Online Sunday 30^th September 2007

Mission with a passion
By Rintos Mail

TO them, saving endangered species, especially the orang utan, is a life-long mission — one they carry out with passion.

They are fully committed to protecting the big apes from the threats of extinction … either in some far-flung corner of Borneo or anywhere conservation of the primates beckons.

“It’s not an ‘over-ambitious’ task. To know that our work helps in some way to protect and care for the orang utan is a reason to wake up smiling every morning.

“I enjoy the time here more than words can express … working so close to such magnificent creatures is a rare privilege,” said conservationist Leo Biddle from England.

He is among three foreign conservationsits and wildlife experts from Wox who are involved in the flagship programme of Great Orang Utan Project (GOP) in Sarawak called The Orang Utan Volunteer Programme.

They have been in Sarawak for nearly two years, trying to put in place a holistic solution for the long-term survival of the orang utans, and at the same time, savour every moment with them and the menagerie of animals at the Matang Wildlife Centre.

WOX is an international voluntary organisation that creates a project aimed at delivering real value to endangered wildlife.

The other two conservationists are primate expert, Keith Lloyd, and veterinary nurse and education officer, Caroline Bellhouse. Together with Biddle and the Wox staff, they are looking after conservation and rehabilitation projects at the Centre.

Lloyd, a senior primate keeper at the London Zoo for 11 years, is at the Centre everyday, helping to look after the orang utan and at the same time, transferring his 30 years hands-on job experience to the locals.

Joining him in this vital conservation programme are Bellhouse and Wox local volunteer co-ordinator, Alvin Gamar.

According to Biddle, the ethics and conservation consultant manager here, the GOP is one of Wox’s many international voluntary schemes to rehabilitate captive or injured orang utan — along with other endangered species — for eventual release back to their natural habitats.

“This is a long-term project and a delicate endeavour which can take several years just to prepare each individual orang utan for return to the wild,” he explained.

Funded by voluntary contributions, the GOP enables volunteers to participate directly in orang utan rehabilitation and release.

Volunteers are involved in the routine husbandry of resident animals and play a significant role in devising labour-intensive behavioural enrichment activities for individual animals.

Biddle, who is fully involved in the programme, said their activities were designed to mimic natural scenarios and teach the animals to respond to them … for example, creating structures for the animals to climb on or forage from within.

The Orang Utan Volunteer Programme is divided into three main phases which, Biddle said, are very conceptual and fluid and fluctuate according to the situation on the ground.

“Broadly speaking, phase I involves ensuring everything is ready for the rehabilitation of animals. Phase II is the long process of rehabilitation while phase III is the release and subsequent monitoring of freed animals.

“Each of these stages is only made possible by constant leadership and close collaboration with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation,” he said.

The programme is now between stages I and II where improved behavioural enrichment structures have been built within all animal enclosures and the apes are now climbing to a greater degree.

Read the full story at Borneo Post Online

March in Matang Wildlife Centre

Aman, our big 19 year old male, is enjoying his new low level decking that keeps him out of the mud in his favourite corner of his enclosure. We are all getting very excited at the prospect of his cataract eye surgery in a month’s time! We had a fantastically successful fundraising evening at the Jambu restaurant in Kuching with the owners Chris and Ashfa who kindly combined their 2nd anniversary with a “Save Aman’s Eyes” fundraising event. A stunning print of Aman’s face, a signed drawing of Aman by Keith Lloyd, our resident expert, and an Aman t-shirt were all auctioned and at the end of the night a grand total of RM2,850 (£425) was raised! That will nearly pay for the anesthetist to fly from South Africa to Kuching in May. Fantastic!!! Hopefully, the online appeal will also bring in more pennies (and pounds and dollars…) to help to pay for everything from bottles of eye drops to the surgeon’s accommodation and freighting the delicate equipment around the world. It isn’t too late to donate. Please send your money NOW, see the link on this website for details - http://www.orangutanproject.com/index.php?prd_sub_id=24

And as great as all that news is, I have some MORE exciting news, hot off the press….. drum roll please……… Keith was rewarded for working today on a Sunday as he was the first to see LENA”S NEW BABY! Yes folks! The self released lady has finally given birth, we think to a girl and she chose to come back to the orangutan building when Keith was in there painting Gus’s new den (the rescued orphand orangutan), to show him her orange bundle of fluff. That really shows the degree of trust she has in him to choose him as the first one to show her new baby to and even let him take photographs from 3 feet away…very special stuff.



Lena and new baby return to the Orangutan Building

So, as if we needed another excuse to ask for donations…Aman now has a second (probably) daughter who he will be able to SEE once he has the surgery. Please help this fantastic cause.

The bear project (to get 4 bears out from terribly cramped cages into a larger outdoor area) is underway, with contractors quoting for the wall that will section off the end of Doris’ enclosure to become bear land. Thanks to incredibly generous donation from Heather, an ex-volunteer, and her husband Gareth, we can start as soon as possible. We’ll keep you posted.

Thanks to the improved diet regime as well as regular mind bending and stimulating enrichment activities for the animals, there has been a definite increase in spring like behaviours in some of our animals; we have seen two bears mating and the two binturong (bear cats) enjoyed a ‘special hug’ as well the other day. Although we are pressed for funds and for space, the fact that the animals are not pacing and plucking any more from hunger and boredom, and are engaging in such flirtatious behaviour must mean that they are feeling more contented with their lives. We are waiting to see if the crocodile eggs are indeed fertile and will hatch…yet another example of natural behaviour resulting almost certainly from improved conditions and diets.

Last bit of news for now is that we are currently raising another orphan Sambar deer (marsh deer) that was rejected by his mother. Gus has enjoyed helping out with bottle feeding and surprisingly has met a creature with nearly as much attitude as she has. It was hilarious seeing a 3 day old deer stamping his hooves next to a startled one and a half year old orangutan! I am sure that they will forge a strong friendship, since although that seems unlikely, Doris (orangutan) and Judy and Jacob (Sambar deer) have demonstrated to all their fondness for each other with play fighting and stroking. The baby has been named Little Leo, after our newest team member Leo, who has spent two weeks with us, finding out how the programme and Matang Wildlife Centre run. It has been great working with him.

Well, I have had my hour of peace, I can hear Gus stirring so it must be time to chop up more fruit and veg and get ready for the bundle of energy to burst forth into action….

December 2006 - Orangutans and Kinda Rehabilitation

Caroline Bellhouse works for Way Out Experiences and is Education and Interpretation Officer for the Borneo Wildlife Volunteer Project.

Hello again. Another busy month full at the Wildlife Centre and a happy happy group of volunteers.

The 2 female orangutans, Lena and Ganti, were both living with the resident dominant male, Mr. Aman, and all were getting on well, with Lena (visually) confirmed pregnant and Ganti and Aman having some intimate moments… However, one day the girls came across a piece of wood which, when propped against the enclosure wall (not forgetting their enormous arm span) allowed them to escape into the forest. This was our plan for them too; they just beat us to it by a couple of months!
Anyhow, being fruiting season, they took off into the jungle and neither sight nor sound came from them for a week or so, and we became concerned. Some things had been moved near the animal area one night, and we thought that might be them, but that was probably an inquisitive bearded pig…

Happily, a couple of weeks ago Ganti appeared on the roof of her best orangutan friend, Chiam, and our hearts lifted. We even forgave her for nicking a pot of silver paint and doing some redecorating in the orangutan building …she was happily smearing it on her arms and lips and sharing it through the bars gleefully with Chiam and baby Mamu!






Ganti plotting her escape







We were still concerned for the quite heavily pregnant Lena who has never been known for her jungle survival techniques and has usually preferred home comforts in the past (a common problem in humanized ex-pet orangutans). Orangutans do not really face any non-human threats in the wild; they sensibly avoid potential conflict with dangerous neighbours such as snakes and crocodiles. But a humanized orangutan that approaches villages, plantations and human smells can face many threats from mankind and their traps and shotguns. So we were more than a little worried for her. So imagine our delight when we heard of a positive sighting of two female orangutans by the viewing platform last week…phew!!! We have yet to set eyes on Lena ourselves but we feel relieved that she is hanging around. Here’s hoping for a baby early next year!

Meanwhile Doris (our 6 year old girl orangutan) continues to delight and manipulate all her human entourage (as she seems to see us). Regarding our virtually blind dominant male, Aman, we are now in exciting discussions with the actual veterinary surgeon who may well do the cataract surgery to restore Aman’s eyesight! The vet sounds lovely and has amazing experience traveling the world performing surgery on rhinos, cheetahs and so on. Aman will be his first orangutan and poses interesting challenges for pre and post operative care (imagine giving eye drops to a 200 Kg male and asking him not to rub his eyes!) since he has hands and cannot be restrained in any way!!! We are hoping for patient compliance! There is a January option, however with so much preparation we may put it back to May. We need to assemble a team (surgeon, anaesthetist etc) equipment (anaesthetic machine, medical grade air, adjustable surgery table etc...) and so on in addition to conditioning Aman to accept eye drops for weeks on end. We will tell you more about this soon and let you know where you can donate money to help pay for the life changing surgery!