We interviewed Leo Biddle, the Borneo manager at WOX’s Great Orangutan Project in Sarawak and how the new orangutan moms and tots are getting on.





So Leo you must be very proud, are the babies healthy?

48 hours from birth there are no complications so far. It is everything we hoped for. Babies are not separate from their moms and remain clung on to their mothers 24/7 as you would expect, but babies support their own weight. They don’t cry, they do make some noises. Also did you know that both baby orangutan came out blonde. They will go deeper orange as they get older, but for now we have blonde baby orangutans!

How are the orangutan mothers coping with motherhood?



Gante (one of the mother orangutans) and baby nearly the entire time have been in guni sacks. She carries the sacks around with her constantly, possibly using them to keep warm. Gante is not as social as Chiam (the other lucky mom) so stays hidden in sacks. They are both well and healthy. They are not eating much but we did expect this. We have been given them a wide selection of foods to choose from - an open buffet for our precious moms. (Chiam is also mother to Mamu who is also at our centre and going to school for jungle training).

What is the reaction if any from other orangutans?

Doris (our teenage orangutan) sees the team and keepers going in and out of the maternity enclosures and gets very jealous almost saying “hey there I want some attention!” (very typical of Doris).

Orangutans from the start were very aware that babies were coming. You could tell by their body language. On the day of birth they could smell the afterbirth. Because we require more space for the moms we have moved the orangutans around. We do what we can in limited space. So other orangutans are getting a bit frustrated.

George, the father of the two baby boys, is highly protective. Other than me and members of the WOX team, when people he doesn’t know pass by, he starts barking and getting angry. “Back off my babies boys!”. I myself growl at people wanting to see babies also…my own paternal instincts kicking in.

How do you create a post-natal environment for the benefit of the orangutan moms and orangutan babies?

We increased warmth to the enclosures with more guni sacks, increase leaves, blankets so the orangutan moms can build nests. The idea is by keeping moms warm we keep orangutan babies warm. We keep quiet. We have increased food supply and a good selection of foods for our moms. They seem to take to the leafy greens so we have more of that. Gante and Chiam have a choice of night dens and enclosures and can move freely between them. We do what we can to keep them happy. And we constantly monitor them. The moms seem very responsible.

You personally have spent so much time with your “orangutan ladies”, how do you feel?

I don’t know if I should say this, but I’m really paranoid. Infant mortality rates are high in any centre. It’s a great concern in the world of orangutan conservation. New borns are weak and susceptible to diseases. So we are going all out to make this work. You have my all.


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Thanks to Leo, Tasha, Alvin, Mazrul, Hilary and the rest of the WOX team and SFC team working round the clock to keep our new moms and babies happy and healthy. It’s challenging times in Borneo but a great privilege to be part of the miracle of a synchronised birth of two baby orangutans on the same day at the same centre.

So there you have it orangutan people, so now get off the blog and get on a plane to Borneo. Be part of the experience and join us on the Sarawak Orangutan Volunteer Programme during the next months or take advantage of our Orangutan Baby Special – 2 week volunteer programmes for May and June 2008.

It’s our way of connecting you with baby orangutans. This moment is extremely rare. To be in the same vicinity of baby orangutans is magic. Packed with emotions, these next few months will require people with passion and belief that orangutans will make it through. We have increased the orangutan population by a tiny fraction, but it’s on the way up and you, the volunteer community help us make this happen.

On the Orangutan Baby Special – you will volunteer at Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak Malaysia Borneo and you will also be working on improving the lives of resident animals such as sunbears, crocodiles, etc and witness the challenges our conservation team face keeping new born baby orangutans healthy.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO TOUCHING OR CARRYING OF ANY ORANGUTANS. PLEASE RESPECT THE MOTHERS FEELINGS AND THE ALPHA MALE FATHER, GEORGE WHO, LIKE ANY PROUD DAD, WILL BE VERY IRRATE IF YOU TOUCH HIS BABY BOYS. WE ASK FOR PASSION WITH RESPONSIBILITY. THANK YOU.

Labels: baby, baby rehabilitation, borneo orangutan, great orangutan project, matang wildlife centre, orang utan, orang-utan, orangutan, orangutan volunteer, volunteer with orangutans

We are ecstatic to report that today, both Chiam and Ghanti, adult orangutan females, gave birth to baby boys. Chiam's baby was noticed first as volunteers were about to start cleaning her night den in the morning, and Ghanti gave birth that lunch time. Both mothers and babies are doing really well and appear to have taken naturally to motherhood, which we expected of Chiam, a second-time mother, and is great to see from Ghanti, who has given birth for the first time.

It is quite incredible that both females gave birth on the same day - at least is will be easy to remember their birthday!

Labels: baby rehabilitation, borneo orangutan, matang wildlife centre, orangutan, Orangutans and Rehabilitation

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….

Labels: baby rehabilitation, lena, orang utan, orangutan diary, Orangutans and Rehabilitation, volunteer