For those who have not met him yet, Aman is our large dominant male at Matang Wildlife Centre

In March 09, two of our volunteers presented us with the kind gift of a 200m roll of 2inch rope. This thick, industrial strength rope is perfect for orang-utan, and with it we were able to rope Aman’s outdoor enclosure. The smaller ropes that used to hang there have slowly been dismantled by Aman over the months, which has been great enrichment for him as orang-utans do love to destroy things, but has meant his enclosure has been devoid of rope for a while.



After roping his enclosure, Aman systematically worked his way around the area, testing each length of the new rope, and this initial investigation was caught on film and is available for viewing on our website. It obviously had no trouble supporting his weight, and on first test run it appears to have no obvious weak points. Orangutans will commonly check new structures, or new additions to structures, for any weaknesses or points that can be dismantled. The rope survived its first afternoon with Aman – let’s hope it withstands his might for many more months!



With kind thanks to Eric McCallum and Robin Smith for the gift of the rope.

Labels: Male orangutan, matang wildlife centre, orang-utan, orangutan, orangutan volunteer

Chiam and Ghanti
Born on Feb 3rd 09, Chiam and Ghanti’s boys are now 3 and a half months old. It is truly fascinating to watch the differences in the approach to motherhood between the two apes. Ghanti is a first time mother, and is evidently cautious, wary and highly attentive to her baby. Whenever he makes the faintest of squeaks, she gives him her full attention, checks over every angle of him, runs her lips over his body as comfort as well as investigation, and keeps the baby close to her. She remains more reserved, and though has been revisiting the outside world, will mostly remain on high in nest or hammock, away from the distractions of staff and tourists and devoting attention to her baby.




Chiam is a different story. She is a second time mother, and perfectly aware that parenting is nothing to stress over. When watching her behaviour, you would not know she had a baby clinging to her unless you caught sight of him. When Chiam’s baby squeaks or begins to cry, she moves it further out of ear shot, generally onto her back. As a result, Chiam’s baby is showing more independence than Ghanti’s. Our May volunteers saw Chiam’s boy climbing to the top of the night dens, solo – with Chiam forming a carefully placed safety net below his every move. She is certainly also a devoted mother, as all female orang-utan are, and volunteers also saw her create something of a mobile with branches and leaves in her enclosure and hang it above her baby’s head, moving it to and fro with her baby thoroughly entertained below.


Separated for the first couple of months to allow the females to settle stress-free into motherhood, Chiam and Ghanti have recently been reintroduced to each other. They have shown great interest in each other’s babies, and there has definitely been a sense of showing off each son to the other mum. They each seem extremely pleased and proud, with both themselves and each other. Recently, Chiam was seen encouraging her baby to climb - she was placing his hands on a rope above her head and supporting his weight, lifting him up and assisting his holds. A few minutes later, Ghanti, who had obviously been watching this lesson closely, followed suit. She took up Chiam’s position and was placing her baby’s hands on the rope. Her baby was much more reluctant to explore the area away from his mother’s body, but this example of learning and imitation through observation was truly fascinating.

Labels: great orangutan project, matang wildlife centre, orang-utan, orangutan, orangutan baby

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.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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.

Labels: borneo orangutan, great orangutan project, orang utan, orang-utan, orangutan, rehabilitation

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

Labels: great orangutan project, Ilford and Kingston Primary School, orang utan, orang-utan, orangutan, orangutan volunteer

Our beloved Aman featured in the London newspaper, The Metro, today showing the world what fantastic progress he is making. Before his cataract operation in May last year Aman was blind but his eyesight is now fully restored and he's making the most of it...

"Meet Aman, king of the swingers and – thanks to a pioneering eye operation – a lean, mean love machine. The 20-year-old orangutan is feeling like a new ape after living in darkness for half his life. He's lost 10kg, toned up and chilled out – all of which makes him quite a catch in ape circles....." Read the full story on the Metro Online: Orangutan's got the look of Love

Or click here to find out more about Aman

Labels: Borneo, great orangutan project, Malaysia, orang-utan, orangutan volunteer

Aman is recovering very well after being the first adult orangutan ever to have cataract surgery performed on him. The vets checke up on him this morning and everything is fine. Aman will now have to stay indoors for a week ot two whilst he recovers. It is improtant to keep him confined so that it is easy to check up on him, to apply his daily eye drops and to avoid exposure to direct sunlight.

The vets had to use an enormous amount of drugs to keep him unconscious during the operation so he slept for a few hours afterward the operation and woke up feeling very groggy. He has been sitting around feeling sorry for himself, closing his eyes some of the time but thankfully he has not been rubbing his eyes so all should go well. The vets will return again on Sunday for a final check up before returning to South Africa.

He has been looking around at things which is a new behaviour and we are sure that his sight has returned which is fantastic news. Aman celebrated the successful operation with a fresh and tasty dragonfruit.



Aman during his operation - on the left is a clear eye, on the right the opaque lens from the cataract is visible.

The operation was sponsored by the Orangutan Appeal UK, with volunteer donations going towards Aman's aftercare.

Labels: aman, cataract, Matang and local community education, matang wildlife centre, orang utan, orang-utan, orangutan diary

The Great Orangutan Project made it possible for the world's first cataract operation on an adult orangutan yesterday. With funding for the operation coming from the Orangutan Appeal UK, and lengthy preparation from Keith Lloyd and Caroline Bellhouse and other GOP team members, Aman was operated on by two world-class experts.

It was a tense time but incredibly awe inspiring. At first Aman was moving about as Dr Stegmann was trying to insert a line into Aman's arm to give him steady dosage of drugs, That freaked people out somewhat as a large male orangutan started to wake up surrounded by the operating team and the press core, but they soon got him to sleep and then Dr Izak started the operation itself.



Ultrasound was used to disperse the cataract. The lens is like a jelly covering and crystals can start forming onto it. As they coalesce, they form into one continuous layer we know as a cataract. All it takes is sound waves to move the crystals off the lens and into the fluid of the eye. The fluid is then sucked out and new clear fluid injected. This is what happened for Aman and he is now recovering well.

We will know whether he will see very shortly and keep you updated.

Labels: aman, cataract, Matang and local community education, matang wildlife centre, orang utan, orang-utan, orangutan diary