Caroline Bellhouse is one of the team at Matang Wildlife Centre and works with volunteers. She used to work at London Zoo as an explainer before working for Way Out Experiences and making her way to Borneo. This is her first blog ever and she describes how work is progressing at the Centre up to the 15th October 2006.

Well, finally I get to sit down and write a blog…so much to say and want to keep it brief!
Guillaume has filled you in on a lot of the recent happenings and progress, so I will try to fill you in on other areas.

Mamu, the baby orang utan, is showing the world that she is her mother’s daughter by escaping from her enclosure frequently…but rest assured, to those who helped with the interior design, she always pops back to chat to the parrot you painted on the wall!!

Recently one of our volunteers sent out lots of squeaky toys to amuse the (volunteers and) animals. Well, Chiam (Mamu's mother) and Mamu liked their spiky plastic fish but poor Doris (young orangutan) cowered from the likes of a smiling squeaky aubergine, banana, tomato and garlic!!! Once the squeaker was taken out of one she enjoyed puffing cool air on her face with it and then figured out that she could also use it to suck up water from a puddle! Bless her!

Baby Keith should probably not be called that any more as he is quite a young man now! (He is a handsome Sambar deer who was rejected by his mother in March, and who we have hand raised) He still loves green beans the best and watermelon skin too. The plan for him is to move in with Judy and Jacob (other Sambar deer in Doris the Orangutan's enclosure) when we get back from the UK, so it will be exciting to see how they and Doris all get on together!

The other herd of outdoor deer were looking pretty poor and we started scatter feeding them to give them all a fair go. The vet came (HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR!!!) out and made recommendations which hopefully will be followed, including a salt lick (to provide minerals) and an increase in food. The volunteers this month will build troughs for pellet to be fed in, spread out for them all to share nicely!

The vet also looked at all the bears and agreed that they look anemic and some are underweight. Once again, their food has been increased and enriched with more bulk and protein. Hurrah!!!

The other bears in quarantine are enjoying their enriched areas and their iceblocks, eggs and other treats. The aim is still to get them outdoors and we are all excited about James and Lisa coming out in January to help coordinate that with us.

As you can tell, we enjoyed the vet’s visit! He reiterated a lot of the things we had already said, but, when backed up with a vet’s report it carries more weight. All great news for the critters!