July at Matang as been so busy it’s flown by leaving us with little time to update you on what’s been going on!

Orangutans

Doris (aged 7 and a half years) has been confined for a few weeks while a big wall was being built to divide the bottom half of her (large) enclosure off for the Sun Bears’ new home. She has very much appreciated all the companionship of the volunteers and the ingenious puzzles they’ve given her to keep her brain and body occupied. Special thanks to volunteer Will from the USA for devoting hours of his time to quality chats with her and Bill for his super duper puzzle feeder!! While she was indoors, it was a good chance to paint a wonderful jungle themed mural on her wall, complete with artist hand prints (which she tried to lick off!). She is back outside enjoying the sun and her admiring public.

Crocodiles
Two new crocodiles have arrived at the centre and are now living with the False gharial (a fresh water reptile that resembles a crocodile), seemingly contentedly. The remaining seven estuarine crocodiles seem to have done some wife swapping and slide under the fence between the two enclosures as they please - keeping us on our toes! Their food, the hens, have also enjoyed a makeover of their pen, which we like to think will make their lives a little more comfortable!

Deer
The two orphan deer, Laurence and Heather, are growing fast and enjoying the time spent with them by volunteers. Laurence is becoming particularly fond of Heather but is rather more cautious of Gus who does tend to bounce around him and be generally unpredictable, dropping off the fence, combat -style right next to him.

Also this month volunteers have helped to put up and renew the animal interpretation signs, clean the drainways and mingled with the local community by getting involved with the resorts and beaches

As always we really appreciate the hard work and time the volunteers put into the centre.