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.

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