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!

Labels: Orangutans and Rehabilitation