It's now almost the end of September and the orangutans and other animals have continued to benefit from our volunteer efforts. Some of the highlights:

• Another platform for Doris' enclosure,
• Lots of new rope to swing from
• Wall paintings in the orang quarantine (with merperson, parrots and some funny looking fruit)
• Aman the big male, now has 2 females in his enclosure - Lena and Gante
• Lena might be pregnant...only time will tell for sure
• 2 wild cats, 2 gibbons and 1 pet macaque have arrived at the Centre
• Binturong area has been enriched and there are lots of logs and bamboo ladders to explore



We also have our first volunteer, Matt Simpson, who has joined onto our new internship programme. Matt was with us in July and has returned to spend a year with us, learning the tricks of the trade, assisting Keith and Caroline (our experts) and helping out with volunteers. The hope is that, in the future, with the experience and skills he has learnt in husbandry and enrichment, he will be able to get a work with animals. After forgetting to adjusting his watch to Malaysian time, he missed his connecting flight but got here safe and sound (hehe - sorry to rub it in Matt).

We've now bought a new computer, which should allow us to keep records, write ups and photos, and turn it all into nice reports and newsletters ever more effectively. Lots of tools and materials have been bought thanks to the volunteer money so there's no lack of hammers and saws anymore. Keith and Caroline have made loads of changes which they will blog you with. On the downside, working with our Malaysian partners hasn't gotten any easier. There's a long struggle to get them up to scratch and look after the animals and enrichment anything like we'd like. Way Out and all our team will continue to doing our work until they do.

We continue to improve the Centre therefore, and we are now rapidly moving towards Phase 2 of the project, bringing in researchers to start proper rehabilitation and release. We hope to strengthen our existing ties with Semonggoh Rehabilitation Centre, and pray that other orangutan charities and organisations will join us in our efforts, rather than doing their own thing.