Great Orang Utan Project Blog

Teresa's potential mate and other gibbons

2011-07-21T19:58:00.006+08:00

Matang has recently become resident to an adult male Bornean gibbon, named Kiko. A long standing resident at the centre, Teresa, is a female Bornean gibbon, and she has been housed alone for a number of years due to lack of a suitable mate - only a handful of gibbons have arrived at the centre over the years, all female, and female gibbons do not get on well with each other.

After a round of blood tests to check the health of both individuals, Kiko has been moved next door to Teresa, with the bars of a cage separating them to see if they show any affection for each other. The picture below shows the arrangement, though Teresa refuses to pose for our cameras and is hidden at the back of the cage. Kiko is on the right.

They have been living this way for a week now, and to be honest Teresa is not looking very interested. However, it is early days and she has been a bachelorette for a while so we're not writing off the possibility of a partnership just yet.

Just next door, the new gibbon enclosure has been completed and the two smallest gibbons have moved in. Below is a picture of them, but at the time they were hurling themselves around and bouncing off the ropes, so it was hard to catch an image.

This cage is split into three sections, and at the moment these small gibbons have a cage each. They were initially introduced to the same space after residing next to each other in smaller cages for many weeks and showing positive signs of friendship. However, the larger of the two, the male, was so excited to be in the huge space that he frightened the small female and left her a quivering wreck in the corner on the floor! So they are split for now so she has a chance to get used to the new house in relative peace, but there should be no problem with introducing them to the same space in the near future and hopefully a successful partnership will form.

I will attempt to capture some of their joy and acrobatics in a short video and upload it to our facebook group shortly.

Quarantine cages

2011-07-21T19:43:00.004+08:00

In the last few weeks, a new row of cages has been completed in the quarantine area of Matang Wildlife Centre. As past volunteers will agree, this extra space is long over due and a most welcome addition to the centre.

As you can see from the image, this row will soon be filled with long tail macaques. It means some of the smaller cages that were utilised due to necessity have now been retired, which is great. There are ajoining doors between each cage, to facilitate integration of some of the individuals resident at the centre. Socialising these animals improves their mental wellbeing and enriches their lives, as they live in large troops in the wild and have complex social structures.

All things gibbon

2011-04-23T12:51:00.006+08:00

The gibbons at Matang have long been favourites of volunteers and visitors to the centre due to their charming personalities and beautiful features. Gibbons are also apes, though termed ‘lesser apes’, so are close cousins of ours indeed. They are elegant and graceful, with a territorial song that can be heard kilometres away.

In the last few weeks we have received 3 more gibbons at the centre, all full adult and of differing sub species. One, pictured above, is a potential partner for Teresa, who has been a long term female resident at Matang. With gibbons, individuals of the same sex do not get along, therefore the aim is to partner them successfully with the opposite sex. Gibbons are monogamous, and it has been shown that their best chance for rehabilitation is to form successful partnerships, leading to family units. However, as with people, just because there is now a male match for Teresa, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will like each other. The integration process can be long indeed, and we hope they will get along.

The newest arrivals are already a pair, and the keepers hastily welded a temporary holding cage for them in the quarantine area. They are in good health, and obviously are comfortable with each other already, which is great news in terms of potential candidates for rehabilitation.

Volunteers from March 2010 no doubt have very fond memories of moving a few tons of rocks into cages on a very muddy river bank. You were laying the foundations for a new gibbon enclosure, which has now almost been completed. This area was conceived and welded almost entirely by Hillary Kidding, a treasured keeper of many skills who tragically died earlier this year.

It is a huge area, and the one man task of welding obviously took a very long time. It is now being finished off by some extra contractors employed by Forestry. It will become home to most of the 7 gibbons now resident at Matang, hopefully with them living in successful partnerships and enjoying the new space to flex their muscles and practice their aerial acrobatics.
Every volunteer in the past year has contributed to this construction task, whether it was moving rocks, laying a brick or painting one of the many, many steel frames now in place. A big thank you to all of you, on behalf of the gibbons who will soon be enjoying their new home.

Update on the baby sun bear

2011-04-16T11:49:00.003+08:00

Unfortunately, the sun bear born at Matang at the beginning of February this year did not make it. It reached around 4 weeks old, at which point the behaviour of the mother changed quite dramatically. For the previous weeks, she had remained in the outdoor enclosure, occasionally coming to the night den area for food but always returning quickly to the den she had created in the enclosure. During the fourth week, her behaviour reverted back to normal – she was spending the nights back in the night den (the door was left open for her) and the day times foraging in the enclosure for food. She showed little interest in the den she had constructed. On the third day of this behaviour, staff and volunteers thoroughly searched the outdoor enclosure for any sign of the cub and could find none.

Though disappointing, it is still hugely encouraging that these bears are displaying successful reproductive behaviour. This female has now had 2 attempts at motherhood, and with just these 2 she already showed a massive improvement in natural behaviour displayed. On the first occasion she didn’t seem to notice that she had given birth, but on the second attempt she built a fantastic den and completely isolated herself from the other bears, which is much more reminiscent of a bear’s natural behaviour.

Bears do seems to require practise to get motherhood right in captivity, and this female certainly seems to be progressing in the right directing. Hopefully her future attempts will see increasing success until there is a healthy, surviving cub here at Matang.

Sun bear born at Matang

2011-02-19T22:10:00.004+08:00

On Sunday 6th February, a sun bear cub was born at Matang Wildlife Centre. On being released to the outdoor enclosure that morning, mother Gaby made a hasty run for the roots of the large, white tree in the hill enclosure and started digging out a den area immediately. She then gave birth sometime during that day. Keeper Eddie was alerted to extraordinary happenings when he tried to bring this set of bears in that afternoon, noting one was missing. On exploring the outdoor area, he finally located her deep in the roots of the tree, preciously guarding a small, naked, squeaking figure.

This is the second time this bear has given birth that we know of, though her first attempt two years ago was still born. We suspect Gummy to be the proud father, as Gaby and Gummy frequently share a night den each evening. Though Gummy is incredibly old and very frail-looking, he is clearly still full of life!

The pictures displayed here were taken by keeper Eddie Inddris, who was incredibly daring to say the least to approach mother sun bear guarding her cub in her den. The pictures of the cub on its own were taken when Gaby returned to the night den to collect food. She is currently being given the whole outdoor enclosure to herself to enable the cub to have optimal survival chances. We also do not want Gaby to be unnecessarily stressed by the presence of other bears, particularly given the aggressive nature of both the males, Gummy and Wong, in this enclosure.

From the photo above you can see that it is currently about the size of a banana. In a few more weeks this tiny creature will be more recognisable as a bear cub, and we look forward to sharing more images with you all and it grows and develops.

2011-01-31T21:00:00.004+08:00

We are sad to announce that Hilary, our former animal keeper at Matang Wildlife Centre, died on the 30th January 2011 at the age of 38 years. He was reported to have died of acute lung infection. It was a sudden death and a shock to his family and friends. He leaves his wife Christine, and 3 children aged 4, 9 and 11 years. His wife and children is our first concern. Leo Biddle and Natasha Beckerson at Matang Wildlife Centre, are with the family. They will be taking Hilary’s body back to the village. Hilary’s funeral will be on 2nd Wednesday, January 2011. On 3rd Thursday, February 2011, Leo will post an update on the funeral, a tribute to Hilary and our plans to help Christine and the children in the immediate and long term future.

Hilary’s vast experience and immense passion for orangutan welfare made him an ideal candidate for working in orangutan conservation and was therefore taken on by the Great Orangutan Project in late 2007. Since joining the Great Orangutan Project, Hilary has been instrumental in the rehabilitation of young orangutans and release of orangutans at Matang Wildlife Centre. He has also helped train our orangutans by mimicking their behaviour in the wild and getting them to imitate him, for example by building nests in forests for orangutan to sleep in and by climbing the highest trees to forage for food. Hilary is an example to his community that working to protect orangutans is a positive and rewarding endeavor. Many volunteers would have been left amazed by this man. We invite you to remember Hilary and share your stories, pictures and videos about him.

You can also donate to a memorial fund. 100% of your donation will go to his family. Please make your donations to the Red Endangered Animal Connection Trust (REACT).

DONATE here!

Please note: If you are a UK tax payer, REACT can claim gift aid. REACT has committed to pledging all gift aid money to Hilary’s family. That’s an extra 28% of your donation helping the family.

Visit Facebook - Remembering Hilary Group - where volunteers express their love for the man that dedicated his life to helping orangutans.

Animal care students get a taste of the wild side

2010-12-16T10:32:00.004+08:00

Tuesday 14th December Oaklands College in St Albans (UK) animal care students swapped the cold, grey winter weather for tales of Borneo as they heard from Head of Conservation of The Great Projects and driving force behind the Great Orangutan Project in Borneo, Leo Biddle (seen in image).

On his first trip back to the UK for three years, Leo delighted and shocked a hall full of students with facts about endangered orangutans and other species such as tigers, gorillas, elephants, chimps and sunbears, which the company helps support through conservation projects. According to the project, without intervention, orangutans could be extinct within the next 20 to 30 years.

Leo Biddle said of the experience: “It’s so important for me to visit colleges in order to raise awareness of the importance of conservation and the key trade problems which affect the existence of many species today.

“When I was younger and studying zoology I remember Jane Goodall visiting my college to talk about her experience in Tanzania and it sparked a fire in me. It suddenly brought the course alive and this is what I wanted to do for Oaklands College animal care students. I hope I have brought their studies to life today and in turn, sparked their interest in the conservation of endangered species.”

Tony Hawkins, Animal Care Manager at Oaklands College, commented: “We knew that today would be inspirational for our students and without exception they were fascinated by Leo’s experiences. He opened up their eyes to the real issues and the delicate balance between third world development and survival of animals in the wild.”

The Great Orangutan Project is always looking for volunteers to experience working life behind the scenes of wildlife centres and help support Borneo’s efforts in protecting the endangered orangutan. To find out more visit www.thegreatprojects.com.

Note:
Oaklands College is a large further education college with campuses across Hertfordshire and 10,000 learners. www.oaklands.ac.uk

Slow loris released

2010-12-13T16:35:00.003+08:00

A slow loris, recently surrendered to Matang Wildlife Centre, was successfully released into the surrounding Kubah National Park. The animal was in good health on arrival to the centre and it was deemed in its best interest to return it to the wild.

The slow loris is nocturnal by nature, and this individual was certainly confused by so much action taking place for it during daylight hours. It sat through a 40minute walk through the forest in a carry case to a release site a couple of kilometres away from the centre and human civilisation. On reaching this destination though, it was not too eager to escape its cage and make for the trees.

Most people assume that when an animal is presented with its natural environment, it will quickly run towards its home and freedom. Sadly, this is rarely the case as animals become used to captivity very rapidly and are often reluctant to leave this existence behind. After some lengthy consideration though, the slow loris did indeed step out of the box and, despite its name, make a hasty line for the forest. We hope to catch images of it on the camera traps recently donated to the centre.

Camera trap donation

2010-12-13T16:31:00.002+08:00

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of author Tom McLaughlin, Matang Wildlife Centre now has four new camera traps to add to its inventory. Tom has lived in Kuching for many years, and has a passion for conserving endangered local wildlife life. He has been busy developing revenue streams to assist the efforts of the conservation agents in Sarawak and proceeds from his book, ‘Borneo Tom’, will be donated to Matang Wildlife Centre.

Matang has released many animals, including orang-utan, into the surrounding Kubah National Park. Post release monitoring of any of these animals is not without difficulty, and it is hoped that strategic positioning of camera traps at numerous locations around the park will assist in identifying not just released animals, but also the endemic wildlife present. A large number of cameras will be required to adequately cover the 2100 hectare national park, but Matang now has a good start thanks to generous donors like Tom.

Other donors to this project include Dawn Foote, Heather Mott, Mark Trinham and Fee Crawford. Our huge and continued thanks go out to you all.

HOPE 4 APES gives hope

2010-12-12T20:20:00.005+08:00

by Harriet Whitmarsh

Last Monday in London, the Great Projects team enjoyed an amazing evening in Covent Garden at the Hope 4 Apes event. The evening, hosted by Sir David Attenborough, was set up in order to raise funds towards the conservation of all the Great Apes, Gorillas, Orang-utans, Chimpanzees and Bonobos and now also for the lesser ape - the Gibbon. The night featured the world’s biggest names in primate conservation - Jane Goodall, Birute Galdikas, Ian Redmond, Jo Thompson and Aurélien Brulé - otherwise known as Chanee (meaning gibbon in Thai). At the reception that took place before the event, our very own ape man and Head of Conservation for The Great Projects, Leo Biddle (image on the left) and Director of The Great Projects, Afzaal Mauthoor, were able to meet and converse with the speakers.

During the evening, not only were we talked through the conservation efforts of each speaker’s particular project but, towards the end of the evening, a panel discussion led by conservationist Mark Carwardine, gave the audience an opportunity to ask the speakers questions involving their work, their opinion on certain conservation issues and future plans. There was an amazing turn out, which reflected the considerable amount of support in the UK devoted to the cause of the apes.
One member of the Great Projects Team, Julie Ion, found the newest and youngest speaker on the panel, Chanee, particularly engaging. He believed that by making conservation more interesting to young people in local and western communities, it would seem more accessible to young people and therefore result in a generation with a view more focused on the importance of conservation.

After a fantastic evening I was able to catch up with our very own ape specialist Leo Biddle, and find out his personal opinion on the evening. Leo stated that although he had seen all of the speakers before, he found Chanee particularly good because he brought a lot of enthusiasm and youthfulness to his presentations. Leo also found that he learnt more factual information from Chanee and was glad that gibbons were being recognised as part of the ape family. Although he found Chanee particularly engaging, Leo found Jane Goodall was, as always, an inspiration, stating that “she embodies all the virtues of great ape conservation.”

Most speakers focused a great deal of time on how education and employment of locals is crucial in primate conservation, like Chanee Leo agrees that education of young locals is crucial to conservation. Chanee set up radio kallaweit, in order to educate and entertain young locals, and this has resulted in a large number of listeners calling in and handing over gibbons they had been keeping as pets. Leo however does not agree with Jane Goodalls methods of attempting to change the cultural values of some older members of local communities arguing that it would appear that often values remain static and that there are no large changes.
Leo does however agree with the idea that employment of locals in affected areas is a crucial element to primate conservation. Employment of locals has been one of the primary focuses of The Great Projects as a company, stating that employment of locals produces a greater bind of values towards the cause of conservation. He also recognises the fact that orang-utans and humans are locked in the same communities and must live side by side, therefore supporting the communities is integral in order to have a legitimate conservation model.

Being surrounded by orangutans on a daily basis I felt that Dr Birute Galdikas presentation must have been particularly close to Leos heart. Galdikas was clearly very passionate about the issue of palm oil and urged people to boycott the product all together. Obviously because Leo spends so much time working towards a better future for orangutans, I asked him his personal opinion on a boycott of palm oil. Leo argued that he doesn’t consider palm oil as “inherently evil” because it is lifting millions of people out of unemployment, has resulted in better education for locals resulting in an increase in life expectancy and lowering child mortality, he does however agree that palm oil is without a doubt the number one cause for the demise of orangutans in numbers.

As to a complete boycott of palm oil, Leo believes that if palm oil was no longer grown, another edible would soon replace it. He reminds us that soy bean is the second most popular edible oil, and if that was to become more popular it would result in the demise of the Amazon rainforest and would therefore result in the further endangerment of species such as the jaguar and wooly monkey, therefore he states that a boycott on excessive consumption of all edible oils would be the best method of protecting the habitat of orangutans and other species. Humans rely on edible oils and to avoid them all together would be almost impossible, therefore Leo urges people to use sustainable palm oil, if they are going to use it at all. He does however agree that the validity of sustainable palm oil does have its problems.
Leo also would like to bring people’s attention to the issues of illegal tropical timber sales and that there needs to be more focus on the hunting of orangutans.

To conclude I asked Leo if he thought there would be any positive outcome from the evening he hoped there could be considerable funds gained from a gathering of so many conservation minded people, however he believes that an opportunity was missed, that despite the message of hope, numbers of apes in the wild are decreasing particularly in orang-utans where we are losing between 1,000 to 5,000 orangutans a year. Leo enjoyed the evening and hopes that there are future events to spread awareness.

An important aspect of the talks given by all the speakers is that they all considered ecotourism and volunteer projects an integral part of primate conservation, believing that projects, such as The Great Projects, are integral in both education and fundraising raising awareness and getting people involved more deeply than just by making a financial donation. Visit the new Great Projects website for opportunities to make a difference at our ape conservation project sites and give hope to the species.

Simanggang and Lingga

2010-11-28T17:12:00.002+08:00

Matang’s two youngest orang-utan are slowly but surely increasing their independence. They no longer require a night-time vigil (which is great news for staff!) and are spending longer and longer each day strengthening their climbing muscles in their outdoor climbing area. In the large part, they seem to enjoy each other’s company, though occasionally they do annoy one another. It is certainly good for them to have each other, as spending more time in the company of another orang-utan is infinitely preferable to spending protracted periods of time with just humans for company. There are some photos below for your enjoyment.

Rhinoceros hornbill

2010-11-28T17:07:00.002+08:00

Recently, Matang has become home for a female rhinoceros hornbill, which is the state animal of Sarawak. These are magnificent birds, very large and listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

This bird was temporarily housed in the quarantine area while the large aviary opposite the orang-utan dens was re-worked by our July volunteers and a preliminary disease screen was carried out. The large aviary has been divided into two large spaces, one half intended for this new arrival and a pair of pied hornbills destined for the

other half.

It was great to see the rhinoceros hornbill literally spread her wings and take advantage of the larger space on the afternoon she was transferred.

Probably the Best Volunteer Organisation in the world!

2010-11-14T23:18:00.007+08:00

Recognition for Great Orangutan Project at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2010

Great Orangutan Project run by Way Out Experiences, has been highly commended in the Best volunteering organisation category at this year’s Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards.

The Great Orangutan Project is part of a family of animal protection projects under newly launched The Great Projects (www.thegreatprojects.com)

The Judges said “Tough times in the tourism industry can often lead to integrity being the first value to take a cut. Not so with Great Orangutan Project – who have continued to provide wildlife experiences without allowing volunteers physical contact with the orangutans. The now ABTA-listed organisation demonstrates good practice in volunteering with increasing commitments to accountability and transparency.”

At a ceremony hosted at World Travel Market (WTM), Docklands, London, on Wednesday 10th November, the Awards were handed out by Justin Francis, managing director of responsibletravel.com, organisers and founders of the Awards, and Amanda Wills, managing director of Virgin Holidays, headline sponsor of the Awards.

The Awards are the most prestigious and competitive of their kind in the world and are a collaboration between online travel directory responsibletravel.com; UK media partners Metro Newspaper and Geographical Magazine and World Travel Market who host the ceremony. The central tenet of the Awards is that all types of tourism - from niche to mainstream - can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people.

Afzaal Mauthoor, co-founder of Way Out Experiences and Managing Director The Great Projects – Way Out Experiences Ltd receives award from Justin Francis above and says at the awards:

“The Great Projects like the Great Orangutan Project is an example of animal protection tourism where your travel can help save endangered animals abroad. It was a bold concept started 6 years ago. It’s now firmly rooted in the responsible travel movement after winning the award two years in a row. Its travel experiences like ours that add the responsible and compassionate side to tourism today - to protect vulnerable animals in vulnerable habitats for our future generations.”

Launched in 2004, the Awards are run in association with partners World Travel Market, Metro Newspaper and Geographical Magazine industry.

Visit The Great Projects website on www.thegreatprojects.com to find out and the award winning project The Great Orangutan Project www.orangutanproject.com

Or call us on 0845 3713070 (within UK), or +44 1582 469950 (outside UK)
Email: volunteer@w-o-x.com

who is ready?

2010-11-10T21:49:00.003+08:00

for the Great Mountain Gorilla Project??? Just so you knoow where we are at, I'm off on Saturday to Uganda with a million and one things to find out and organise, and all going well will come back with the fine details down and the full costings and itinerary for it all to go ahead! So get ready for the adventure of a lifetime and a chance to see these majestic animals out there in the wild!!!

www.thegreatprojects.com

Guess what we got??????

2010-11-10T20:16:00.005+08:00

I am happy to say that just a few moments ago we were awarded Highly Commended in the Best Volunteer Company Category at the Responsible Travel Awards at WTM! Thanks everyone who voted for us :)

Now if you want to take part on any of our projects visit www.orangutanproject.com or www.thegreatprojects.com

And all of this on "orange for orangutans" day....whos wearing orange???

Some gorgeous faces from Samboja

2010-11-04T20:18:00.004+08:00

Experience Samboja Lestari

Bernie and Jo having fun!

2010-10-19T16:49:00.002+08:00

Great little video of the sunbears at Matang having some fun! Thanks Helen!

Sun bears at Matang, Sarawak from Helen Cogman on Vimeo.

its getting closer!!!!

2010-10-15T18:46:00.003+08:00

Soooo.... the time for the Great Mountain Gorilla Project is getting closer....planning is underway and it is now 4 weeks until our visit to Uganda to finalise the details. Don't know if any of you watched the programme that was aired on BBC4 on Tuesday night (12th October) Gorillas Revisited with Sir David Attenborough but it certainly wet the appetite, what beautiful and fascinating animals they are! We have had an overwhelming response already to the announcement of this project, and are still taking details from people registering their interest. We will keep you posted with any further developments and with news from the field when we get there. Keep your eyes peeled :)

www.thegreatprojects.com

Thanks for the photos Wendy!

Announcing exciting new opportunities

2010-10-01T21:33:00.003+08:00

Calling all volunteers!

Announcing exciting opportunities! Take a look at our brand new website, www.thegreatprojects.com, which aims to provide truly meaningful projects that make a positive impact whilst delivering a truly amazing volunteer experience!!! We are not "The Great Projects" for nothing!!!

Due to your fantastic response to our opinion poll it seems that all you ape enthusiasts are after a great gorilla project, so watch this space.....because we currently have a 2 week mountain gorilla project under construction...and believe me, it will be great!!! It will run in July and October next year with a world famous celebrity conservationist on board to lead part of the experience!!! So register your interest at volunteer@w-o-x.com to get first pickings on the limited spaces!!!!!

What a lucky Leo (the orangutan!)

2010-09-24T19:39:00.006+08:00

At Samboja Lestari, once lonely Leo has recently been blessed by the company of several female orangutans, as reported on in previous blogs! Well it must be Leo's lucky year, because in the last few weeks he has had the great fortune to be joined by another female, Titin, and her baby Tinatoon.

It is great to see this mum and baby out of holding cages and in the wonderful surroundings of an island! So far so good and the two seem to have settled in well, Tinatoon seems to be enjoying herself

and Leo seems to have taken a shine to his new 'friend' !

To volunteer at Samboja Lestari and help with the great work staff are achieving there, click here

New sun bear

2010-09-19T17:37:00.004+08:00

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers at the end of last year, a few months ago we were able to transfer a new sun bear from Semenggoh to Matang to join the existing group of bears in the hill enclosure. These bears are a feisty group, so she is currently spending most of her days in the night dens and attempting to get used to the company of the other bears through the cage.

Earlier this month, she was let into the outdoor space on her own to see what she thought of the outside world. We are not sure if this bear has set foot outside in the last 20 years, so this was a very exciting day. She appeared to really enjoy being in the larger space, climbing a couple of trees and destroying some wooden structures with relish.

It is extremely encouraging when animals that have been long term captive display their natural behaviours without having to be taught. There was no sign of stress from this bear, and no unnatural, stereotypic behaviours. She will continue to enjoy days with the enclosure to herself for a few more weeks until she is mixed with one other male to begin with. Hopefully it will be a peaceful meeting!

Kitten at Matang

2010-09-19T17:08:00.003+08:00

Now, the arrival of kittens at the centre is not actually a rare event, as many past volunteers will be aware. However this particular kitten is, no offense to regular cats, a bit more special than the average.

It's a very young leopard cat, estimated to be around 3-4 weeks of age. He needs to be syringe-fed, which he was not very keen on originally but is now a bit more accepting of the strange instrument. He has recently started trying small pieces of meat, and shows a great appetite for it, guarding the food with an aggression that is a bit hard to take seriously, considering his size.

These cats are offically listed by IUCN as Least Concern, though precious little academic research exists with regards to them, particularly the Bornean subspecies. They are solitary, as with most wild cats, though we hope with a careful integration process this kitten will be able to join the existing pair at Matang in time.

With thanks to Kuno and Lauren Schiffermuller for the images, volunteers in September 10.

Baby's Big Day Out

2010-09-10T19:01:00.000+08:00

With thanks to Paul Brand and Leisa Woodhouse, two of our volunteers in July :)

To volunteer here please check out www.orangutanproject.com

Jovan and Komeng are joined by lovely lady Nania

2010-09-08T19:16:00.008+08:00

The most recent development in the ongoing story of Komeng and Jovans wonderful friendship is that they have been joined by wonderful Nania.

It was a bit of a concern for the staff as introducing a female may disrupt the magical friendship that has developed between poor orphaned Komeng and Jovan......however things went very well.

After Jovan had checked Nania was female, and (ahhheeemm) made her "very welcome", Komeng braved coming down from his hammock and Nania gently stroked his face and held him close.

The three are now living very happily together and Nania seems to be happy to take on the motherly role for Komeng in this slightly obscure family group!

To volunteer at samboja lestari visit http://www.orangutanproject.com/

Baby bear moves house

2010-09-03T14:17:00.003+08:00

The sun bear known as ‘Baby bear’ to many volunteers has recently moved house out of the quarantine area and into the larger sun bear enclosure housing the other ‘quarantine bears’. Though she is still significantly smaller than these other adults, it was deemed time to begin the familiarisation process. She currently has one of the night dens to herself, and we are giving her and the other bears time to get used to each other through the safety of the cage. She was pretty scared for the first couple of days, and her defensive shouting at the other bears provoked some aggressive responses, but she soon calmed down and the others now seem at peace with their new neighbour. It may still be some time before she is let out with the others though.

Though she is still spending the majority of her time in a cage, every now and then we are keeping the four adults in and letting her enjoy the outdoor enclosure by herself. Letting her out for the first time was incredibly exciting, and she seemed incredibly pleased by the experience.

The picture below shows her following and enjoying a honey trail leading out of the night den. Baby bear has always showed great natural behaviour, even though she has been confined to a small, unnatural area. She did not disappoint in the outdoor space, foraging for most of the day, digging vigorously at the ground and climbing trees with ease.

Her next stage is obviously full integration with the existing group, and until then she will continue to enjoy days exploring the outdoor space. We also have a video of her first outdoor excursion, which will be posted soon.

Clouded leopard images

2010-09-03T14:14:00.002+08:00

Some new photos of the clouded leopard, one of the newer arrivals at Matang Wildlife Centre. These wonderful pictures are credited to Paul Brand and Leisa Woodhouse, volunteers in July 2010. Many thanks for these.

Boboy spotted

2010-09-02T13:34:00.002+08:00

Boboy, the long tail macaque with a big personality, was released from Matang Wildlife Centre last year. He was chosen as a monkey to test a possible release site for all long tail macaques because he was not coping well with the stress of captivity. He was released onto an island in Kuching Wetlands Park, a site away from human habitation which is key for macaque release.

Though we visited the site regularly, we were not lucky enough to spot Boboy for a long time. However, recently has was seen enjoying the natural habitat on the island, and looking in excellent health. This is incredibly good news, both for the welfare of this one individual, and for the potential of the area to accept more of his species.

Boboy was a favourite character of many volunteers that met him, and to those with fond memories of him, please enjoy the images of him enjoying his new lease of life.

a friendship stronger than anaesthetic.....

2010-08-31T18:27:00.007+08:00

For those of you who are avid readers of our blog posts, you may remember a few weeks ago, a lovely story of poor little orphaned Komeng at Samboja Lestari, finding comfort and friendship in the form of Jovan, an 11 year old male orangutan. From the moment they found each other it was clear they had formed a solid friendship, but this was truly proved during a medical check up last week!

In a routine health check, the two orangutans needed to be anaesthetised, Jovan, the bigger orangutan, went first. As the vets sadated him, Komeng shouted very loudly at the vets, not very happy at them taking his best friend away. Next, it was Komeng's turn and whilst he was being checked, Jovan was put in his enclosure to recover. As the staff brought back Komeng and placed him back in the enclosure, they noticed Jovan was in the sun, so one keeper climbed in just to move him to the shade.

As the keeper tried to move Jovan, Komeng suddenly awoke, despite being heavily sedated, yelling at the keeper and trying to protect his dear friend Jovan, very quickly (and rather wobbly) moving toward Jovan.

As the keeper left, Komeng tried to hug Jovan, and move Jovans arms around his own body so Komeng was as close to Jovan as possible. Once completely snuggled next to him, Komeng proceeded to give in to the sedation again and fell back to sleep. And both slept off their busy day!

So, tiny little Komeng, despite being heavily sedated, wanted to protect his friend so much, that he battled past the anaesthetic and awoke himself to try to save Jovan (from a keeper moving him out of the sun, hehe!) Now that's friendship if ever I heard it!

Island Bule Gila!

2010-08-18T19:01:00.012+08:00

.....so I don't know how many of you remember all the talk of the dream team last year....a team of past volunteers and experts who went out to Samboja Lestari in July 2009 to try to implement and pave the way for the volunteer programme that now exists there. Part of our time there was spent working on Island Zero, an unfinished island that could be used to home orangutans from the centre once we had completed it.

The aim was to plant fruiting trees, build feeding platforms and nesting areas and to connect the island up with aerial pathways to allow the orangutans to live, as far as possible, off the ground, and encourage natural movement and behaviours. Thanks to the crazy visions of Rob, our construction expert, we managed to exceed even what we thought was possible, and get ourselves labeled as "Bule Gila" (crazy white people, hehehee!) by the staff as they thought the designs were slightly ambitious, albeit near impossible! But with dedication and an incredible amount of effort from the whole team; Elaine, Steve, Kay, Hanna, Rob and myself, (along with some AMAZING visiting volunteers along the way!) we worked along side the brilliant staff at Samboja Lestari and made it happen! There was a lot of blood (mainly Robs, he has a talent at bleeding!), sweat (you would just not believe how much, ew!) and tears to get there, but it was worth every single minute of it when we got to look back and see the first orangutans testing out the finished product!

And so a year has now passed since we embarked on our journey to this once strange unknown place called Samboja Lestari, that we now all think of as a second home! And I thought it was a good time to update you on what is happening with the island with some pictures. Here are some gorgeous photos of the orangutans who now call our island bule gila home, Anih, Yuni, Henry, Bong and Misri.

Since the completion of Island zero, some of the other islands have been put to use, including one for the forest school orangutans, and lucky Leo the lonely bachelor, has finally got himself 3 ladies, Juminten, Elisa and Mona.

Future plans are to connect Island zero with islands 4,2 and 1, to move Leo's group to island 5, and the orangutans from island 5 to 2, so that all the groups of orangutans who are healthy and eligible for release are together on the connected islands.

It was an incredible adventure, and now looking at these orangutans using our platforms and the island, it makes me incredibly happy, as I am sure it will the rest of the team! I just want to say the hugest thanks to all the keepers at Samboja Lestari for making us feel so welcome, for all their incredible strength (without you the "gila" plans would have definitely not been possible) and hard work, and their endless commitment to supporting these wonderful animals! You do a great job, thanks for letting us try to do our little bit!

If you want to volunteer and do your "bit" take a look at the volunteer programme held at Samboja Lestari (and dont worry, this was a one off, there would not be this much construction work to do!!!!!)

Komeng

2010-08-10T19:36:00.009+08:00

Here is the story of such a wonderful little orangutan from Samboja Lestari where our

Orangutan and Sunbear Rehabilitation volunteer project is held.

Sadly at the age of just 18 months, Komeng lost his mother and became very depressed without her. He needed companionship and comfort.

Despite spending his days climbing in the trees around the vet clinic, Komeng just was not happy. Staff tried him with another orangutan mother who had lost her baby, but he did not like this, they tried giving him a babysitter, but he was still not happy.

He needed the company of another orangutan, not human. Finally, one day, Komeng met 11year old Jovan. The instant Komeng arrived, he stared at Jovan and proceeded to steal all his food. Jovan had a good look at Komeng, checked him over, and gave Komeng the rest of his food that he was holding. Since then they have been inseparable, and finally Komeng is back to his happy healthy self, thanks to the hard work and dedication of all the BOS staff at Samboja Lestari!

Thank you so much Wiwik for your great photos and help!

Orangutans get everywhere and meet the strangest people!!!!

2010-07-29T17:20:00.010+08:00

Whilst on a little visit to London yesterday, we noticed this little cheeky chap living it up at the STA headquarters..........

A little later after our meeting we bumped in to him eating his lunch and relaxing........

.....and then you would never guess who we caught him schmoozing with???................................

...lucky just isn't the word!!!!Keep your eyes peeled for more of his antics and he still needs a name, so more suggestions welcome!

thanks jacksparrowforhire!

Video of Doris and Ting San at Matang Wildlife Centre

2010-07-21T22:49:00.006+08:00

http://www.vimeo.com/13550084

Here is a great little video from one of our volunteers, Helen Cogman, of Doris and Ting San playing in their enclosure at Matang Wildlife Centre where we run the Sarawak Orangutan Volunteer project. Here you get the chance to work alongside amazing animals just like these two as well as a huge range of other animals included clouded leopards, sun bears and binterong! Check out the website http://www.orangutanproject.com/ for more information.

Great Savings for remaining spaces on Sept 2010 Sarawak Orangutan Volunteer Project!

2010-07-15T20:44:00.003+08:00

Great savings on September 2010 Sarawak Orangutan Volunteer project.

Only a few spaces left!!!

For new bookings only!

2 weeks now £1100 and 4 weeks now £1600!!!

Call us on +44(0)1582 469 950

Click here to find details of the project.

Leo (the orangutan!!!) and his ladies

2010-07-09T18:04:00.007+08:00

Great news for lonely heart orangutan Leo who has been living on his own on one of the islands in Samboj Lestari. He finally has some female company in the form of Mona, Elisa and Juminten, who were recently released on to the island to join him!

And that's not even the best bit........despite a long time in cages, within minutes of being on the island one of the girls started to build herself a nest! Natural instincts at their best!

Find details of how to volunteer at Samboja Lestari

Kopral

2010-07-07T00:58:00.003+08:00

Just a really quick update, latest photo of Kopral, the orangutan at Samboja Lestari who unfortunately lost his arms as explained in an earlier post. Here he is looking happy and healthy, great job everyone at Samboj Lestari for all their hard work and support of this true survivor!!!

(and thanks Wiwik for the photo!)

Orangutan News

2010-07-02T21:31:00.003+08:00

New orangutan programme soon to be aired!

Orangutan rescue is due to start on Thursday 8th July at 9pm on Nat Geo Wild channel. Follow Michelle Yeoh on her journey meeting orangutans at Sepilok Rehabillitation Centre before trekking into the jungle at the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.

Follow in the footsteps of Michelle and take part on our Orangutan Pygmy Elephant Experience

http://http//www.orangutanproject.com/content.php?p=303&Prod=7#product

New Clouded Leopard cub at Matang

2010-06-25T19:20:00.002+08:00

A clouded leopard cub has recently arrived at Matang after being surrendered by a kind member of the public who found her.

The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is a medium sized cat found in Southeast Asia.
Preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical forests of up to 2,000 meters; however it is sometimes found in mangrove swamps and grassland. Because the clouded leopard's habitats make it difficult to study, reliable estimates of its population do not exist. However there are warnings that the population is declining due to loss of habitat through deforestation, demand for its pelt and hunting for use in medicine etc.

Lets hope this little cub now has a more promising future thanks to the work of everyone at Matang Wildlife Centre.

World Business: Holidays to Help 28/05/2010

2010-06-23T19:57:00.000+08:00

Matang on television!

Check out this great video featuring one of our amazing volunteer projects based at Matang Wildlife Centre.

A chance to see some of the great work being done and a little insight into the world of being a volunteer.

REACT has officially got its charity status today!

2010-06-18T20:37:00.003+08:00

Well done to REACT, whos charity number has finally come through today! Here is to a future of good work and positive change! http://www.reactproject.org/

One determined little ape!

2010-06-14T16:09:00.004+08:00

Meet Kopral, an amazing survivor! He came into Samboja with severe burns to his arms and unfortunately had to have them both amputated. This was only back in January, and just look at him now (can you spot him high in the trees below?). Thanks to the dedicated care from the staff at the center he has come on in leaps and bounds. It just shows how strong their natural instinct is to be up in the trees, and just how tough this orangutan is. Where there is a will, there is definitely a way!

American Zoo Group Visit Samboja

2010-05-26T14:00:00.002+08:00

In May this year a specialist group of volunteers arrived for 8 days to help out in Samboja - Orangutan and Sunbear Rehabilitation Centre. We received a mix of orangutan zoo and maintenance staff from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in America. Keepers from zoos including Denver, Brookfield and Como arrived for the keeper exchange programme - designed to provide mutually beneficial working and educational relationships between international zoos.

After having met with all the partners at Samboja; BOS, Four Paws and REACT (who run the volunteer programme); it was full steam ahead working at Wanariset and Forest School to enrich and repair the cages. This was all done with money raised by the volunteer programme at Samboja and provided 660m of rope, 700m of tyre rope, 150 chunky D-locks, a very large generator and a welding machine. We were also lucky enough to have access to tools volunteered by Rigid that were brought over from America - a portable drill with bits and a grinder. On top of this we received a fantastic enrichment device made by Otto Environmental and hammocks provided by Aussie Dog.

After months of planning this event heralded true cooperation between many organisations for whom the conservation of orangutans is more than just a day job. The first zoo group trip in a number of years can count the enrichment of 40 orangutans (half a dozen of which were taken out of small cages) as just one of their successes. Of these 40, half a dozen orangutans were removed from small cages and placed in better and healthier environments thanks to the determination of hardwork of both the zoo group and the fantastic staff at Samboja.

Thanks to everyone who made this trip such a success and thanks to the volunteers for providing the funds that made it happen.

To find out more about out Orangutan and Sunbear Rehabiliation Centre click here

Ali's New Enclosure

2009-10-23T22:13:00.002+08:00

Our volunteers in July 09 were set the task of re-building one of our enclosures, making it fit for young orangutan. Volunteers of the past 18 months will know the area as the binturong enclosure, opposite the orangutan night dens. The climbing platform was designed by our orangutan keeper, Hilary, and both he and the volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure its completion within their month here. The structure was completed, roped, and a new pond added to the exhibit, initially for the volunteers pleasure but intended in the long run for the orangutans.

For now, this enclosure is intended for Ali.

Presently, he spends most of his days in the jungle with his designated keeper. However, on the odd occasion that he remains at the centre, it was thought best that he have an area that was enriching and designed to facilitate climbing practice. Ali is a very competent climber and has shown little affection for people, two great attributes in terms of potential rehabilitation success.

He is yet to spend a night out as he is quite young (around 2 years of age) and still requires night time care and the occasional feed. It is hoped that he will learn nest building and foraging skills, initially from Chiam and later, from Ghanti and George when they join the orangutan already released.

Our thanks go out to the hard work put in by our July volunteers. The addition of this enclosure to Matang is another small step as we work to bring the centre up to a standard of excellence. It is a fantastic area, presently for Ali, but will stand for many years as a training area for young orangutan. In a few months, we will join Simanggang with Ali in this area to see how well he copes with ropes and climbing structures - and of course another orangutan! We will update you on this event as soon as it happens.

Baby Orangutan Update

2009-10-23T21:26:00.003+08:00

The youngest of Matang's new arrivals, Simanggang, is developing very well. Presently, he spends most of his days in the vet clinic, with Juan's wife, Sangang, as his primary carer. We are being careful to keep the number of humans around him down to a minimum to reduce the risk of him picking up any of our diseases, which could be fatal for him.

Since arriving at Matang, Simanggang has required 24 hour care, which has meant the vet clinic has become a (less than comfortable!) home for some members of staff. He is, by all accounts, extremely healthy and has doubled in weight in the short time he has been here. His strength is quite remarkable for one so small - it is apparent that almost from birth, orangutan are superbly developed for a life of climbing and arboreal living.

Occasionally, this young orangutan has been taken to the trees to see how he may fare in the branches. This was partly inspired by watching Chiam and Ghanti's boys, who look to be similar in age. They are at a stage where the mums are giving them a small amount of independence to climb, around a cage or in Chiam's case, in the trees. There seems no better role model for guidance on baby orangutan than these two. Follow this link to see a short video of Simanggang's efforts in a tree.

Click here for the video

In a few months, Simanggang will join Ali and Ting San on their daily excursions to the jungle for more routinised training. For now though, until he is older, he remains at the vet clinic to continue to gain weight and strength.

Katherine & Peter

2009-09-25T23:21:00.003+08:00

After spending 3 months in quarantine, Katherine (estimated to be around 16 years of age) and Peter (perhaps as old as 25) were transferred into the orangutan dens. The move itself went incredibly smoothly, both orangutan had to be sedated to be moved, and although neither of them are keen on the blowpipe being pointed at them, the move was as stress-free as possible for humans and animals alike.

Peter's current location means he is often in view of George, one of the dominant males at Matang. Though they have seen each other before, this is the first time they have been in close proximity, and neither of them are very happy with the presence of the other. Wisely, when separated by just the bars of a cage, Peter keeps well clear of George, though he was recently seen being quite bold and pulling George's hair! Follow the link for a short video of Peter vocalising at George; this appears to be part aggression and part fear.

Though it is not clear from the video, Peter is very different in appearance to both Aman and George, though it is suspected he is older. This is because Peter is not yet a dominant male, therefore has not developed the prominent secondary sexual characteristics of such. Peter was malnourished on arrival, with no small amount of digestive worms, and it is thought that these factors inhibited his development into a dominant male. With the worms cleared and his nutrition vastly improved, we are waiting to see if he will now grow the characteristic flanges and throat pouch to mark his dominance, or whether this development will be inhibited by the presence of George. These changes are hormonally controlled, and the presence of another dominant male can delay or halt entirely another male's development.

After a couple of days alone to settle in, Katherine was mixed in the large outdoor enclosure with Doris and Ting San. Ting San spends most of her days in the jungle, so Katherine has spent the majority of her time with just Doris for company. Here is a link to a short video of one of their first interactions - Doris did not take kindly to her new housemate, and was witnessed on numerous occasions throwing various objects at Katherine, or hitting her and then bidding a hasty retreat.

Katherine has been completely un-phased by this unfriendly greeting. She has enjoyed herself exploring the new enclosure and has enjoyed interacting with Doris, seemingly unaware that her presence is resented. Doris was initially a little afraid of Katherine and has been forced to give up enrichment on occasion, which is a great change as she has for a long time had her own way entirely over Ting San.

These two orangutan now seem at peace with each other and both seem to like each others company. They still fight over enrichment, but competition can be healthy!

Katherine already has a good relationship with the orangutan keepers here at Matang. She is a very friendly orangutan and seems relatively easy to handle. The keepers are determined to include Katherine in the rehabilitation process and see no reason why she should spend the rest of her life in captivity. We will of course keep you updated on her progress, and her first jungle experience as and when it happens.

Ghanti is released

2009-09-24T21:00:00.003+08:00

On Thursday, September 17th, Ghanti was released from her captive life at Matang. Keepers here had been awaiting Chiam's presence at the centre, so that Ghanti would have a confident orangutan to follow, and to convince her that life is better off in the trees. On the above date, Chiam did indeed return to the centre - she was seen climbing on the tower cage at the front of the orangutan dens and her and Peter were showing great interest in each other. Aman and George were furious, Aman climbing to the top of his platform in the enclosure and shaking it backwards and forth. Perhaps they did not enjoy a female's attentions being given to a sub adult male. The photo below was taken by a volunteer - it is Aman looking down upon Chiam hanging on the side of Peter's cage.

Hilary took this opportunity to open Ghanti's cage and see if she would join Chiam. Burst out through the front doors into freedom she did not, instead sat looking at the open door, and at Hilary, from the comfort of her sack for about twenty minutes. However, when it became clear we were not teasing and this was really the option available, Ghanti did indeed stroll out the front door and made off into the tree line behind Aman's enclosure, with Chiam following quickly after.

The release of orangutan from the centre is certainly bitter sweet. With both Chiam and Ghanti, it was an educational privilege to see, close up, how orangutan mothers deal with the early months after birth, and watch how the relationship and bond between mother and infant begin to develop. Seeing the youngsters mature and gain both in size and confidence has also been wonderful, but always at the back of the mind was the regret that their first learning experiences were of navigating bars rather than trees. It is with gratifying joy that we can now think of these young orangutan learning skills to equip them for a life in the rainforest.

We will keep you posted on Chiam and Ghanti's progression in their new life in Kubah National Park.

Pigtail Macaque

2009-08-18T20:20:00.002+08:00

Matang has one less resident after we felt the effects of being situated within the rainforests of Borneo. A 13 foot reticulated python found its way into the pigtail macaque enclosure on the animal trail and found within a rather tempting meal. It's very likely that this snake, a protected species, is one of the very animals that Matang Wildlife Centre had released into the national park before.

It seemed strange that the python was able to catch the monkey, as if the monkey had stayed at the top of its cage it would not have been in reach. However, the python was presenting lacerations to its back, suggesting that the monkey attacked the snake and unfortunately then found itself in range of the snake's jaws. The python was discovered during morning husbandry - a keeper went to feed the macaque, and instead found a rather large snake in the cage. Thin enough to enter the cage initially, after consuming the monkey the python found itself too large to fit back through the bars and became captive as a consequence.

Keepers here were able to catch the snake with little problem. Its energies were obviously mostly devoted to digesting the huge meal. The python was relocated to an adjacent forested area and released. While it was obviously a shame for the monkey, it was a great opportunity to see nature in action, and a stark reminder that we do indeed work in a jungle!

Chiam and Baby Visit Feeding Platform

2009-08-17T23:01:00.003+08:00

During the first three weeks that Chiam was out in the national park, keepers only saw her once as she came to investigate Ting San's rehabilitation training. Though they continued to call for her and place food at feeding platforms twice a day, it seems Chiam was enjoying herself too much to be concerned with coming back when called for easy food. Indeed, during her first 4 hours out, Chiam built 4 nests, which is certainly in excess of what's required! Orangutan will always build a nest for sleeping, and will commonly make one day nest to take a rest from foraging, but four in one afternoon is certainly not seen. It seemed Chiam was simply feeling the joy of the trees once again. However, recently Chiam returned to the feeding platform recently built on the trail to the ranger station.

She came down in response to keepers calling for her, as they have been doing each day twice daily. The aim of this was to let Chiam know that there would always be someone in the jungle to feed her, should she require extra food. This has obviously worked, Chiam had known where the keepers were going to be at what time and responded to their call.

Both her and the baby appear to be in great health and obviously enjoying their time in the trees. It is wonderful to know how much Chiam's son will now be learning about his natural environment, and we can only imagine how fast he will pick up natural survival skills such as nest building and foraging with Chiam as his teacher.

We hope that this will be the first of many occasions that Chiam returns to our feeding platforms for food.

Orangutan Congregation

2009-08-14T20:35:00.005+08:00

After the first few weeks when Chiam relished the novelty of the jungle and kept to herself, she has since been coming back to the feeding platform when called regularly. July volunteers were able to join the keepers, one at a time, on the twice daily excursions to the jungle to call and leave food for Chiam. About 70% of occasions saw Chiam returning for food, so the volunteers were lucky indeed.

During one afternoon, we witnessed a first for Matang for a number of years when four orangutan gathered at the feeding platform. Have a look at the photo below and see if you can spot who is who:

All the orangutan present were greatly enjoying the treetops, which made clear photography a challenging task. Check the picture below for more of a clue.

It was certainly a special sight to behold. Chiam was very interested in Ting San, who was initially wary of Chiam but soon gained confidence and would stay in the same vicinity as her, equally curious. Chiam was also allowing her baby to explore the trees on his own, and it was quite incredible to see him practicing the art of climbing in the trees, as previously we had just seen him do this in a cage. Though it was wonderful to be able to observe Chiam's baby close up in captivity, it simply does not compare to watching him practice his natural behaviour in his natural environment. Ali seemed oblivious to the larger apes; he was immensely pleased with the small tree he had found, and spent most of the afternoon swinging it backwards and forwards.

From this day on, keepers have intentionally been bringing both Ali and Ting San to Chiam's location, when she is present. The two youngsters will learn much more from her, a fully competent semi-wild orangutan, than they will their human keepers. It makes our job of rehabilitation a lot easier - we now have an incredibly qualified teacher who, if willing, can continue jungle training with our juveniles.

Chiam and Baby Released

2009-08-07T23:18:00.004+08:00

Chiam has long been a favourite of volunteers and keepers alike at Matang. She is a highly intelligent orangutan, and has fascinated many on onlooker with her swift and accurate construction of tools out of mere scraps of rope and left over food items. Chiam's presence at the centre was bitter sweet - it was a joy to observe her and a privilege to get to know her, but she has long been ready for life in the jungle.

Part of the centre's captive breeding program; Chiam gave birth to George's son in February 09. Her infant developed quickly, and Chiam's stress-free approach to motherhood quickly fostered an ambitious and independent son. At just two months of age he was already exploring his cage in absense of his mother and flexing his young climbing muscles on the bars.

In May 09, the decision was made to release Chiam. Her infant had developed extremely well and it was more than clear that Chiam is a competent mother. At the begining of June, Chiam was released into Kubah.

Though it had been hoped to release Chiam, George and Ghanti together, it made good sense to release Chiam earlier. With Mamu being in the rainforest, it is a good step to have a competent adult join her in the environment, so should Mamu have any difficulty in food location or nest building, Chiam can watch over her and offer assistance. Though Ghanti herself would not struggle in the jungle, she is being kept at Matang for the near future so that staff here may keep a closer eye on her infant and ensure its healthy development. He is currently developing well, but Ghanti does not have the carefree confidence in motherhood that Chiam displayed, not surprising since for Chiam, she had done it all before.

As a dominant male, George would not be safe to be released too close to the centre. Therefore, we will still build a release site for him futher into Kubah, which is the task of July 09 volunteers. Over the next few months, keepers will slowly move Chiam through the jungle to this new site, so when it is time to release George and Ghanti, Chiam will be centred on this area also. This will then become the primary feeding area for the 3 adult orangutan, plus the two babies.

Our immense gratitude goes out to all volunteers, past, present and future. For many of those past, you worked tirelessly at the centre and dedicated your money to it for the future when the orangutan you got to know so well would be in a position to be released. Many of you never saw an orangutan in the jungle at Matang, and indeed it has taken many years for us to begin to realise the release plans. Whether you were building a feeding platform for the orangutan, or building a deer enclosure at the centre, it is all of these efforts combined that have brought Matang up to a standard where release of orangutan is not just feasible, but is now happening. We cannot thank you enough and hope that when we collect the first few photos of Chiam in the jungle with her baby you will all consider it your success as well

Mamu enjoys jungle life!

2009-07-13T23:34:00.006+08:00

Mamu, the daughter of Chiam and Aman, was born at the centre in 2004. She spent her first couple of years in the trees with her mum, but it became clear that Chiam was struggling to provide for both herself and her infant while roaming the forest, so mother and child were brought back to the centre, separated, and provided with lots of nutrition. Since that point, Chiam has given birth to a second baby and Mamu has been continuing jungle training under the careful supervision of our orangutan rehabilitation officers, Hilary Kidding and Eddie Indriss.

She began with day trips into the jungle, where she was quickly mixed with Ting San, another orangutan of similar age who was far less competent in the trees. Mamu proved good inspiration for Ting San, who has come on leaps and bounds in her jungle training. These two orangutan often spent nights out in the jungle too, though Ting San was far less keen on this experience than Mamu. Occasionally, where simple day trips were planned, Mamu would decide to remain out in the jungle over night, meaning her keepers regularly spent unscheduled nights in the forest close to her.

Since November 08, Mamu and Ting San have been spending one week a month at the Piers Mott ranger station, built by volunteers in Kubah National Park, about a 2km trek from the centre. Keepers have been able to stay in (relative) comfort in this building, while the orangutan explore the surrounding jungle both day and night, being fed at the neighboring feeding platform built by volunteers in October 08.

This year, Mamu has been showing increasing reluctance to return to the centre at the end of her periods of training. Mamu has certainly been ready for release for a number of months - she was being held back to fulfill a role of teacher for both Ting San and Doris, who is widely lacking in knowledge of jungle survival. However, Mamu obviously tired of this role, and after one week at the ranger station in April, decided that she would be happier to remain in the jungle. This site had been prepared for exactly this purpose, so it seemed as good a time as any to leave her out.

Both keepers and volunteers have been making daily excursions to the feeding platform by the ranger station to ensure Mamu will always be able to feed, should she not be able to find enough food in the trees. She is certainly missed at the centre, by none more than Doris who had formed a very close relationship with her. However for us, though it is strange not to see her on a daily basis, the knowledge that she is brachiating through the rainforest by day, foraging for natural foods and nesting in the treetops at dusk, more than compensates for her absence. Indeed, it is exactly what we have been working so hard to achieve, and the release of one makes us all the more determined to give her some company in Kubah.

Aman's new ropes

2009-06-23T20:13:00.003+08:00

For those who have not met him yet, Aman is our large dominant male at Matang Wildlife Centre

In March 09, two of our volunteers presented us with the kind gift of a 200m roll of 2inch rope. This thick, industrial strength rope is perfect for orang-utan, and with it we were able to rope Aman’s outdoor enclosure. The smaller ropes that used to hang there have slowly been dismantled by Aman over the months, which has been great enrichment for him as orang-utans do love to destroy things, but has meant his enclosure has been devoid of rope for a while.

After roping his enclosure, Aman systematically worked his way around the area, testing each length of the new rope, and this initial investigation was caught on film and is available for viewing on our website. It obviously had no trouble supporting his weight, and on first test run it appears to have no obvious weak points. Orangutans will commonly check new structures, or new additions to structures, for any weaknesses or points that can be dismantled. The rope survived its first afternoon with Aman – let’s hope it withstands his might for many more months!

With kind thanks to Eric McCallum and Robin Smith for the gift of the rope.

Update on Chiam & Gante

2009-05-26T17:29:00.003+08:00

Chiam and Ghanti
Born on Feb 3rd 09, Chiam and Ghanti’s boys are now 3 and a half months old. It is truly fascinating to watch the differences in the approach to motherhood between the two apes. Ghanti is a first time mother, and is evidently cautious, wary and highly attentive to her baby. Whenever he makes the faintest of squeaks, she gives him her full attention, checks over every angle of him, runs her lips over his body as comfort as well as investigation, and keeps the baby close to her. She remains more reserved, and though has been revisiting the outside world, will mostly remain on high in nest or hammock, away from the distractions of staff and tourists and devoting attention to her baby.

Chiam is a different story. She is a second time mother, and perfectly aware that parenting is nothing to stress over. When watching her behaviour, you would not know she had a baby clinging to her unless you caught sight of him. When Chiam’s baby squeaks or begins to cry, she moves it further out of ear shot, generally onto her back. As a result, Chiam’s baby is showing more independence than Ghanti’s. Our May volunteers saw Chiam’s boy climbing to the top of the night dens, solo – with Chiam forming a carefully placed safety net below his every move. She is certainly also a devoted mother, as all female orang-utan are, and volunteers also saw her create something of a mobile with branches and leaves in her enclosure and hang it above her baby’s head, moving it to and fro with her baby thoroughly entertained below.

Separated for the first couple of months to allow the females to settle stress-free into motherhood, Chiam and Ghanti have recently been reintroduced to each other. They have shown great interest in each other’s babies, and there has definitely been a sense of showing off each son to the other mum. They each seem extremely pleased and proud, with both themselves and each other. Recently, Chiam was seen encouraging her baby to climb - she was placing his hands on a rope above her head and supporting his weight, lifting him up and assisting his holds. A few minutes later, Ghanti, who had obviously been watching this lesson closely, followed suit. She took up Chiam’s position and was placing her baby’s hands on the rope. Her baby was much more reluctant to explore the area away from his mother’s body, but this example of learning and imitation through observation was truly fascinating.

Nora's baby

2009-05-26T17:10:00.002+08:00

In August last year, a macaque was born at Matang and has been a firm favourite with volunteers since. Since March 09, this little male has become strong enough to demolish chicken wire, yet still remains small enough to fit through the stronger steel bars of his cage. He has enjoyed great enrichment exploring the neighbouring cages, and stealing any items that are light enough for him to pick up. Here are some photos of him mid-exploration for your viewing pleasure.

Slow Loris Release

2009-05-17T17:33:00.003+08:00

After being found on the road side, a slow loris was surrendered to Matang in May 09. These incredibly cute small mammals are primates, with opposable thumbs utilised for clinging tightly onto branches. As their name suggests, they are slow and steady locomotors. They dwell in the tree tops, and like the orangutan employ a three-to-one climbing technique - three limbs cling to branches at all times while one will locate the next step to be made. This makes for extremely safe and secure locomotion through the 40m+ canopy of Borneo.

These pictures show the animal emerging from its carry case - it lived up to its name and appeared in no rush to return to the trees. It then ambled through the undergrowth before vanishing from sight into Kubah National Park.

Pangolins Released

2009-05-17T17:20:00.004+08:00

Over the months of April and May, Matang took in two pangolins from surrounding communities, residents of which had found them around their homes and recognised that these animals would be better suited to the rainforest rather than human habitations and surrendered them to Matang. Pangolins are scaly anteaters - the scales of these animals are formed with keratin, the same substance that makes up our hair and fingernails. When threatened, pangolins curl up into a ball, and the edges of the scales are razor-like, providing extra protection. Pangolins are nocturnal, and well adapted to their diet of insects with a keen sense of smell and strong claws on their feet to allow them to break into rotten wood and termite mounds. They are also excellent climbers, looking far more at ease in the trees than on the ground where their long claws make walking slightly cumbersome. The two pangolins that found their way to Matang have now taken up residence in Kubah National Park.

Click here for a short video of one of the pangolins bidding a hasty retreat upwards

Porcupine Birth

2009-05-17T17:05:00.004+08:00

On 3rd May 2009 keepers at Matang discovered two new born porcupine at the enclosure. In April 2008, we welcomed a new porcupine into the existing population and he's clearly been doing a good job, with one infant born last year and now two more! There are two adult females currently at Matang and each of them gave birth to one young - it seems the porcupine followed the example of Chiam and Ghanti and sychronised their births!

Porcupine are born without their quills (luckily for their mums), but they soon develop these robust spines as a defense against potential predators. These photos were taken on the day they were born inside the nights dens of the enclosure, so you can see the quills are yet to form.

2009-03-25T16:51:00.002+08:00

Those who have been volunteers at Matang in the past will, of course, know the sun bears well. Four of the bears, Bernie, Corrine, Situ and Jo, used to live in the quarantine area and were moved into a large, outdoor area in January 08. Videos of the sun bears’ first steps into their new space can be viewed on our website. Since these bears moved, we have employed our volunteers to carry out behavioural monitoring of all the sun bears here. Matang is attempting to rehabilitate its sun bears, which involves training them out of unnatural behaviours, such as stereotypy, and trying to illicit and increase natural behaviours, such as climbing, breaking into logs and rotting wood, and foraging. We have been making changes to their enrichment, husbandry routine and feeding schedule, all the while monitoring their behaviour, to see if we are succeeding in changing and improving their behaviour. Our record climber thus far is Situ, who climbs now to 13.5m on a daily basis. We are slowly increasing the height at which food is hung to tempt the bears ever higher.

In the eight months that we have been able to monitor the bears, we have seen great improvements in their behaviour. All are comfortable climbers, with Situ excelling, all enjoy a meal of insects, an idea that visually repelled some of them when first introduced, and overall, the frequency of foraging has increased and stereotypy has decreased. Our bears also frequently display mating behaviour, culminating in successful pregnancy. We still have a long way to go, but are greatly encouraged by our initial data. It appears possible to teach sun bears natural behaviour, or more simply present the means to allow them to express what does, indeed, come naturally. It is also possible to decrease stereotypic frequency – our next challenge is to see if we can eliminate it. Our volunteers will continue to help us in this challenging mission.
The prize for Most Improved Bear is, at this stage, definitely awarded to Jo. When first moved to the outdoor enclosure, Jo refused to leave the night den area and face the open air for a number of weeks. She then progressed to venturing out for a day, but then seeking the comfort of the night den for the following two or three. She was very meek, lacked confidence and would steer well clear of the other three bears. Now, Jo is as keen to enter the outdoor enclosure as any other bear. She climbs with ease, forages for most of the day and shows great enthusiasm for tearing apart any wood in her presence – even iron wood platforms do not withstand her efforts. She has also forged a great relationship with Bernie. It is quite common to see these two bears play fighting and rolling around with each other, often continually throughout the day. This does not seem to be tied to mating specifically, as copulation attempts are rarely seen during their interaction. Sun bears are solitary animals in the wild, but here we can see that in the right conditions, individuals can gain great enjoyment from each other’s company. It really is a joy to watch them together, particularly in relation to Jo’s demeanour one year ago.

You can see a short video of Jo and Bernie in their night den on our website homepage clicking on the video link www.orangutanproject.com

Baby Bear

2009-03-21T00:00:00.001+08:00

For our past Matang volunteers we thought you would appreciate this lovely shot of 'Baby Bear'. Not such a baby any more, she's developing extremely quickly and though cute, is sporting large, white teeth and strong claws. We caught her napping one lunch time, and on waking she struck this wonderful pose for us. Enjoy!

Nora & Baby

2009-03-20T22:54:00.002+08:00

For the many volunteers who have asked, here is a photo of Nora's baby, taken at the end of January. You may be surprised at how little he has changed - indeed he has not grown as quickly as we expected. In character though, he has changed a lot and is now full of confidence and forever exploring and bouncing around his enclosure. He continues to win the affections of all volunteers he meets.

Ghanti and her newborn

2009-03-06T21:23:00.003+08:00

This week, Ghanti has been out and about in her larger enclosure, finally leaving the comfort of her sack. It's meant we've been able to get some wonderful photos of her and her newborn. Ghanti is looking extremely comfortable as a first time mum, and watching her attentiveness to her infant is truly fascinating and highly touching.

We have also uploaded a video of Ghanti breast feeding her newborn so don't forget to watch this too - just look for the video section on our homepage http://www.orangutanproject.com/

Mothers and Babies

2009-02-26T22:04:00.003+08:00

We are pleased to bring you another image of Chiam's young boy. Mother and baby are doing extremely well - Chiam behaves completely naturally, almost as if there is no newborn clinging to her side.

The picture of the sack you see is in fact Ghanti and her newborn - Ghanti chose to remain in her sack for the majority of her first week as a new mum, which is why we have been slow in introducing her baby boy to the world.

Though we have now managed to photograph her up and about and feeding her newborn. Ghanti has been particularly lethargic following the birth, typical of any first time mum. Her and the baby are in really good health and her energy levels now seem to be on the increase.

We will of course add more photo's as soon as they are available

Interview with the Great Orangutan Project manager, Leo Biddle, about the 2 new orangutan babies

2009-02-10T19:10:00.004+08:00

We interviewed Leo Biddle, the Borneo manager at WOX’s Great Orangutan Project in Sarawak and how the new orangutan moms and tots are getting on.

So Leo you must be very proud, are the babies healthy?

48 hours from birth there are no complications so far. It is everything we hoped for. Babies are not separate from their moms and remain clung on to their mothers 24/7 as you would expect, but babies support their own weight. They don’t cry, they do make some noises. Also did you know that both baby orangutan came out blonde. They will go deeper orange as they get older, but for now we have blonde baby orangutans!

How are the orangutan mothers coping with motherhood?

Gante (one of the mother orangutans) and baby nearly the entire time have been in guni sacks. She carries the sacks around with her constantly, possibly using them to keep warm. Gante is not as social as Chiam (the other lucky mom) so stays hidden in sacks. They are both well and healthy. They are not eating much but we did expect this. We have been given them a wide selection of foods to choose from - an open buffet for our precious moms. (Chiam is also mother to Mamu who is also at our centre and going to school for jungle training).

What is the reaction if any from other orangutans?

Doris (our teenage orangutan) sees the team and keepers going in and out of the maternity enclosures and gets very jealous almost saying “hey there I want some attention!” (very typical of Doris).

Orangutans from the start were very aware that babies were coming. You could tell by their body language. On the day of birth they could smell the afterbirth. Because we require more space for the moms we have moved the orangutans around. We do what we can in limited space. So other orangutans are getting a bit frustrated.

George, the father of the two baby boys, is highly protective. Other than me and members of the WOX team, when people he doesn’t know pass by, he starts barking and getting angry. “Back off my babies boys!”. I myself growl at people wanting to see babies also…my own paternal instincts kicking in.

How do you create a post-natal environment for the benefit of the orangutan moms and orangutan babies?

We increased warmth to the enclosures with more guni sacks, increase leaves, blankets so the orangutan moms can build nests. The idea is by keeping moms warm we keep orangutan babies warm. We keep quiet. We have increased food supply and a good selection of foods for our moms. They seem to take to the leafy greens so we have more of that. Gante and Chiam have a choice of night dens and enclosures and can move freely between them. We do what we can to keep them happy. And we constantly monitor them. The moms seem very responsible.

You personally have spent so much time with your “orangutan ladies”, how do you feel?

I don’t know if I should say this, but I’m really paranoid. Infant mortality rates are high in any centre. It’s a great concern in the world of orangutan conservation. New borns are weak and susceptible to diseases. So we are going all out to make this work. You have my all.

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Thanks to Leo, Tasha, Alvin, Mazrul, Hilary and the rest of the WOX team and SFC team working round the clock to keep our new moms and babies happy and healthy. It’s challenging times in Borneo but a great privilege to be part of the miracle of a synchronised birth of two baby orangutans on the same day at the same centre.

So there you have it orangutan people, so now get off the blog and get on a plane to Borneo. Be part of the experience and join us on the Sarawak Orangutan Volunteer Programme during the next months or take advantage of our Orangutan Baby Special – 2 week volunteer programmes for May and June 2008.

It’s our way of connecting you with baby orangutans. This moment is extremely rare. To be in the same vicinity of baby orangutans is magic. Packed with emotions, these next few months will require people with passion and belief that orangutans will make it through. We have increased the orangutan population by a tiny fraction, but it’s on the way up and you, the volunteer community help us make this happen.

On the Orangutan Baby Special – you will volunteer at Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak Malaysia Borneo and you will also be working on improving the lives of resident animals such as sunbears, crocodiles, etc and witness the challenges our conservation team face keeping new born baby orangutans healthy.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO TOUCHING OR CARRYING OF ANY ORANGUTANS. PLEASE RESPECT THE MOTHERS FEELINGS AND THE ALPHA MALE FATHER, GEORGE WHO, LIKE ANY PROUD DAD, WILL BE VERY IRRATE IF YOU TOUCH HIS BABY BOYS. WE ASK FOR PASSION WITH RESPONSIBILITY. THANK YOU.

Double Birth at Matang Wildlife Centre

2009-02-04T16:57:00.003+08:00

We are ecstatic to report that today, both Chiam and Ghanti, adult orangutan females, gave birth to baby boys. Chiam's baby was noticed first as volunteers were about to start cleaning her night den in the morning, and Ghanti gave birth that lunch time. Both mothers and babies are doing really well and appear to have taken naturally to motherhood, which we expected of Chiam, a second-time mother, and is great to see from Ghanti, who has given birth for the first time.

It is quite incredible that both females gave birth on the same day - at least is will be easy to remember their birthday!

Matang Wildlife Centre continues to improve

2008-12-03T23:25:00.005+08:00

This month, the quarantine area went through a full revamp as each quarantine cage was redone. We had some disgruntled monkeys whilst the ironwork was welded and the shut-offs remade. This is yet another step forward for Matang Wildlife Centre in its quest to become a centre of excellence for Sarawak Forestry. New arrivals now have better facilities and can expect better care.

A very special orangutan rehabilitation moment - Doris the teenager

2008-11-10T22:39:00.007+08:00

In the orangutan conservation world, it is generally a rule of thumb that only baby orangutans should be rehabilitated back into the wild. Teenage orangutans are considered to old and unmanageable for the rehabilitation process. We have experts in the past that have failed to achieve anything with our very own teenager, Doris. Doris was so humanised after years of captivity that rehabilitation was considered impossible by many. One expert even diagnosed her with vertigo!

However, on Wednesday 22nd of October, a date etched into orangutan conservation history, the Great Orangutan Project's very own Leo Biddle, along with Sarawak Forestry's courageous keepers, Hillary and Eddie, managed to spend a night in the forest at the 'Piers Mott' Ranger Station with teenage orangutan, Doris. Here's the update from Leo himself:

"On Wednesday 22nd we managed to convince Doris to spend her first night ever in the jungle, at the newly completed Piers Mott Ranger Station previous volunteers have worked so hard to build.

Doris out in the jungle

For much of the last year Doris has been going out on excursions into the forest under supervision, but until Wednesday has always been brought back to the orangutan dens at night.

Unlike Ting San and Mamu, who have spent many nights out already, we have been waiting for Doris’ confidence in the forest to increase before making her take this important next step towards eventual release.

At points in her training prior we have kept her in the jungle until the light begins to fade before bringing her back in. On these occasions she has generally made it emphatically clear that she does not wish to remain in the jungle at night and Doris’ size and considerable strength are very effective at making points emphatically!
A part of this is due to fear of the unfamiliar; the jungle at night is very different to during the day with different noises and insects – indeed when we have taken previous volunteers on night walks or to camp out there, several of them have found it to be a frightening or challenging experience…

Another factor of course is a break from the routine. Captive orangutan, just like other animals including humans, can quickly become habituated to a daily regime prevalent to their confinement and despite our continuing efforts on enrichment for the last 9 years – Doris has slept at night in a cage.

When she was first taken into the jungle back in December 2007 it was a wholly new experience for her and one that took her time to adjust to; until now it would be fair to say that she enjoys her days spent in jungle training. In time we hope to persuade her that sleeping in the jungle at night can be equally enriching and rapidly become routine.

Doris seemed to be suspicious when we hoisted her over her enclosure wall much later than normal; but presented with the prospect of accompanying three of her favourite keepers into the jungle she was content to follow.

On arrival at the new station, Doris acted as though it had always been there; promptly going up to the door and even knocking!

Knock knock, who's there? Doris at the Piers Mott Ranger Station

Shortly after arriving at the station the light rapidly began to fade; aside from a few gentle shoves to remind us we really ought to be heading back and slightly more wistful stares back in the direction we had came from Doris was surprisingly relaxed at the impending night out of doors.

We later all agreed that she probably knew what we were taking her out for around the time we lowered a rope over her wall back at the centre.

Wistful stares

We’d half expected that Doris would forcibly demand to spend the night in the ranger station with us when it got dark; but wanted to avoid setting a precedent. So we were pleased that after a half-hearted attempt to break in she promptly climbed onto the roof and went to sleep.

The whole night passed uneventfully and we were woken at first light by Doris knocking on the door again.

The morning after

Doris was in exceptionally high spirits and showed no signs of distress or fatigue from her night out, in fact it was our intention to take her straight back to the centre as soon as we woke, however Doris seemed intent on staying in the jungle even taking to the trees of her own volition.

So after feeding her on her new platform that the Orangutan Release group in September built we spent most of the morning letting her climb before bringing her back in.

Doris gets used to the new feeding platform

On the 10th of November we plan to bring her back out to the ranger station with the centre's baby orangutan, Ting San and Mamu, and keep the three of them there for a one week trial before eventually releasing them all there under 24 hour supervision.

We can confirm that Doris does not have vertigo

We’ll be sure to keep you posted with how it all goes."

Click here for The Great Orangutan Project website - Volunteer Projects for All

Great Orangutan Project looks to Indonesia

2008-11-08T18:58:00.005+08:00

For the last few years, The Great Orangutan Project has focused its activities in Borneo, but on the Malaysian side on the island. The reason has been simple, the environmental laws are enforced relatively well which means that protected orangutans have a far better chance of survival.

Just across the border, in Indonesia, the destruction has continued unabated meanwhile. The terms "corruption, collusion and nepotism" are famous in Indonesian society, and for a very good reason, because they are rife. I heard recently a statistic that 70% of protected national parks have been illegally logged, and it would seem that this is done with the collaboration of the army. A sad state of affairs and a deeply depressing one.

Against this backdrop, many conservation charities have been working hard to rescue orangutans that have been the victims of this habitat destruction, and black market for pets, in Indonesia. They have done a fantastic job but without backing from the local Government it has been a losing battle. Indonesia is a vast area of land divided into thousands of islands. It is not easy to manage such a country and so power is devolved, which means that each province has its own Government, like the United States of America that is divided into States. Each province has its own powers, the a lot of flexibility to ignore laws from the main Government in Jakarta. Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, is particular rife with corruption which has made the task of conservation extremely difficult.

With all this in mind, The Great Orangutan Project has decided to get involved in a very difficult situation. By staying out of Indonesia we will not be able to make any change. Only together can we overcome the corrupt and illegal practices that turn most Indonesians' stomachs. We are now looking for volunteer projects in Indonesia and we hope to start something in 2009.

There is hope. Attention is focused on Indonesia. It is widely recognised that Indonesia is the world's 3rd worst polluter for greenhouse gases (after the USA and China) because of deforestation and forest fires. Many people are pressurising the Indonesia Government and Provincial authorities. The Indonesians voted for a president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2004. He vowed to tackle corruption that has plagued Indonesia for years. So far he has had some notable successes and the head of the police has arrested hundreds of illegal loggers, including some big names. The destruction is not over yet, but there is hope and The Great Orangutan Project thinks this is a good time to make a move. Stayed tuned, there may soon be a way for you to volunteer and make a difference for the orangutans in the heart of the destruction.

Click here for The Great Orangutan Project website
Volunteer Projects for All

The Life of a Volunteer at Zoo Negara (National Zoo of Malaysia)

2008-10-20T17:08:00.003+08:00

At The Great Orangutan Project, we also work in zoos as part of our drive to help promote conservation education and animal enrichment . Here is the experience of one of our volunteers, Lucy Fisher.

As Lucy was the only zoo assistant this month she chose to spend her first 2 weeks with the other orangutan group (Orangutan Encounters Project) at the Ape Centre. She therefore contributed to all the enrichment activities there as well as working really hard at cleaning. After the Orangutan Encounters group left she helped complete the following activities around the rest of the zoo……

Painting concrete tunnels in the tiger exhibit
At the request of the carnivore section supervisor we painted the ugly concrete tunnel in the Sumatran tiger exhibit in an attempt to make it look a bit more natural. We used a weather proof base coat and then spray painted using leaves as stencils to try and make the concrete blend in with the rest of the exhibit.

Before

After

Cleaning out the rat and mouse cages at Reptiles
They might only be food for the reptiles but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a decent quality of life. We found the rats and mice in a terrible state so spent an afternoon cleaning out three big holding tanks so we could transfer the rodents out of the trays they were being kept in. It was a horrible job and we removed around 50 bodies from the tanks and trays, not to mention about a million fleas. But seeing the rats settled in a new, clean and spacious home (right) made it all worth while. Well done to Lucy for getting stuck in and doing a job that many others wouldn’t.

Mammal Kingdom
We spent two days at mammal kingdom, mostly helping to scrub out night dens but also carrying out a few enrichment activities. This included making blood ice blocks for the hyenas, fruit and meat ice blocks for the binturongs and a fish ice bock for the otter that doesn’t go out. The hyenas were a bit unsure about the blocks (right), and the binturongs didn’t touch theirs though they were salivating loads and smelling around the blocks they didn’t seem to be able to figure them out. Looks like we need another idea for binturong enrichment! The real success though was the otter (left) who got so excited about his ice block I thought he might pop with joy! We put it in his water trough and he had great fun trying to catch it, squeaking and squealing the whole time. As it defrosted he realised there were prawns in it which he wasn’t sure about at first but eventually decided were delicious. The next day Lucy made a new ice block by stuffing a piece of bamboo with prawns and freezing it. This was even more of a challenge but the little otter loved every minute! So rewarding!

Our final project at mammal kingdom was to install a couple of bamboo feeders into the racoon exhibit. Racoons are very resourceful and good at figuring out puzzles, so we took two pieces of giant bamboo and using a drill made a few paw-sized holes in the different segments. We then hung one vertically and one horizontally in the exhibit. The racoons were even faster than we thought and had their paws in the holes before we’d even finished hanging the feeders! We filled the bamboo with pieces of fruit and meal worms and stood back as the racoons tried to get their tasty treats. The horizontal feeder was fairly easy, but they found the vertical one more challenging as it kept moving around. It was fun to watch and hopefully we can encourage the keepers to put food in the bamboo on a regular basis so the racoons have to work for it.

Ice blocks for Otters
As well as making ice blocks for the otter at mammal kingdom, we also made fish and prawn blocks for the 8 otters in the exhibit. We gave the otters their treats on hari raya to a large crowd of tourists who really enjoyed watching the otters’ antics as they first stampeded into the pool and then chased the frozen blocks around in the water. Lucy also made one giant blood ice block which we gave to the Sumatran tigers. She worked hard during her month with us and will now go on to spend her second month at Taiping zoo.

Doris

2008-09-10T04:20:00.004+08:00

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.

Rehab Training for the Young Orangutans

2008-09-03T01:19:00.006+08:00

Our two young orangutan, Ting San and Mamu, continued to go out most days as a pair for their jungle training at our nearby feeding platforms with two of our rehabilitation officers Hillary and Jugah. Mamu has practically doubled in bodyweight since our orangutan expert recommended separating her from her companions in her enclosure and has improved tremendously.

Though still young, Mamu continually impresses us all with her degree of jungle expertise, and serious rehab has proven to be the best thing to ever happen to Ting San.

Unless the weather is particularly bad the two of them will generally stay out all day in the surrounding forest generally coming back in around 4 or 5 in the early evening; Mamu’s affinity for the tree tops is successfully rubbing off on Ting San and she now spends less and less time seeking out human contact at ground level and emulating Mamu’s superior climbing technique in the canopy.

Things are extremely positive for the both of them.

Providing Alternative Incomes for Local Communities

2008-09-03T00:08:00.009+08:00

Matang Wildlife Centre has begun an agro-farming scheme for the local community with the offspring of some of its resident deer population.

The Samba deer breed exceptionally well in captivity and Matang Wildlife Centre is currently somewhat overpopulated with them. Rather than castrating the resident population the Sarawak Forestry Corporation and The Great Orangutan Project have formulated a plan to donate breeding pairs of deer along with the necessary training, licenses and infrastructure to farm them; to the communities around our park boundaries.

This will provide the local community with a sustainable source of income and food source and consequently reduce the pressure on poorer communities to resort to illegal means of protein supplement.

It is hoped that this community outreach program will not only be of direct benefit to the communities themselves but will foster a greater sense of understanding and assistance between them and the National Park.

By fostering goodwill between all parties and the derived economic benefit, it is hoped that the communities around the park will be more engaged in the conservation work at Matang Wildlife Centre and will be willing to support our planned animal release and training program. It is envisioned that this could be in the form of additional security, monitoring and reporting on animals released into the park and by removing some of the threats to certain species from human predation.

Ilford & Kingston Primary School Contribute to the Great Orangutan Project

2008-07-15T12:31:00.003+08:00

Dear Children & Staff of Ilford & Kingston Primary School

On behalf of Ting San (Gus) and the staff at Matang Wildlife Centre; I would like to thank you all very much for your time and effort to help Ting San; and congratulate you all on your swimathon raising such a wonderful contribution. For all to know, Emily and Tom Clifford from Ilford & Kingston Primary School of year 5 and 6, had visited Ting San (Gus) at Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak Malaysian Borneo under the Great Orangutan Project. At that time, Ting San was an orphaned baby and rescued and brought to the centre for care. Emily and Tom returned and inspired their school to continue the fundraising. After raising funds last year the children have yet again made the effort for Ting San, this time collecting £631 from a swimathon at the school.

Ting San is doing very well in her rehabilitation training and she is much bigger now than when Tom and Emily last saw her; almost twice the size.

Ting San has grown enough for her to now be taken out into the jungle everyday with another orangutan her own age, Mamu, where they have both continued to develop their natural behaviour.

In February and March she spent her first nights away from the centre; sleeping in specially made nests suspended high in the trees with Mamu; with one of our rehabilitation officers sleeping on the ground below.

In April they both stayed out in the jungle for 20 nights in a row! Since their rehabilitation is progressing so well; we plan to move them into the jungle permanently around August/September time.

They will be taken to a remote ranger station deep in the jungle by our keepers who will feed and keep watch over them 24 hours a day for the next few years until they are ready to live on their own.

Before we do release Ting San into the trees we intend to fit her with a tracking device; so that we can follow her progress in the jungle. Whilst we are still finalising what sort of device is best to use; I think it would be an excellent idea to use your contribution towards it when the time comes. This way we can send you all updates on where she is and what she is doing even after it becomes too difficult for us to keep up with or photograph her.

I include some up to date photographs of Ting San and her friend Mamu training in the jungle and we will keep you updated from time to time on how she is doing and where she is.

Thank you Ilford and Kingston School, once again for thinking of and caring for such a special infant so far away from your homes. Kindness and help like yours touches all of us here very much and gives us confidence for a long and happy life for Ting San in the trees.

Warm regards

The Great Orangutan Project team
On behalf of Ting San

Matang goes from strength to strength

2008-05-09T20:54:00.005+08:00

Since January, the volunteer project at Matang Wildlife Centre has moved into hyperdrive. The outcomes are coming thick and fast. The two babies, Ting San and Mamu are being taken everyday into the jungle to climb trees and they even make nests and stay out. Doris is often taken out into the jungle as well. Many think she is too humanised and too old, but Sarawak Forestry and the Great Orangutan Project are determined to make the effort to rehabilitate all the orangutans.

In the meantime, Sarawak Forestry are continuing to develop Matang Wildlife Centre. New enclosures are being built by the volunteers and staff to provide the best care and enrichment possible. There are also more animal species slated for rehabilitation as well. Animals in Sarawak are rejoicing!

Which leads nicely onto the sunbear project, the world's first rehabilitation and release for the rare Malaysian bear. Everything is moving forwards apace. After having been released into their new enclosure, their rehab is going better than expected. Most of the bears have now learnt to climb trees in the search for food, a vital behaviour for life in the wild. They are being fed insects and natural foods of all kinds, also indispensable if they are to live free. If all continues to go well, we will be selecting the best candidates for release, putting a radio collar onto them, and following them by satellite tracking.

As ever, the volunteer project continues to make other small but essential changes to the Centre. The trail and release sites have been steadily improved, with bridges and lodge being reconstructed. Vet care has improved, enrichment and husbandry continues at a high standard. Even the platforms that were poorly built and have decayed so quickly have been replaced.

With Sarawak Forestry leading, the volunteer program supporting with sweat, effort and love, Matang Wildlife Centre has rapidly turned into one of the world's best orangutan and tropical animal rescue ad release centres.

Aman hits the headlines

2008-02-26T20:48:00.002+08:00

Our beloved Aman featured in the London newspaper, The Metro, today showing the world what fantastic progress he is making. Before his cataract operation in May last year Aman was blind but his eyesight is now fully restored and he's making the most of it...

"Meet Aman, king of the swingers and – thanks to a pioneering eye operation – a lean, mean love machine. The 20-year-old orangutan is feeling like a new ape after living in darkness for half his life. He's lost 10kg, toned up and chilled out – all of which makes him quite a catch in ape circles....." Read the full story on the Metro Online: Orangutan's got the look of Love

Or click here to find out more about Aman

Into the Enclosure

2008-02-08T01:08:00.000+08:00

More updates on the sun bears progress by current volunteer Heather:

Monday 4th February

The time had arrived to let the bears out into their new enclosure, the decision was made to allow the less dominant bears Corrine and Jo out first to try and lessen territorial disputes. Food was placed on the outside ladders to tempt them down.

However only Corrine ventured out as Jo was still too nervous. Corrine walked around eating and licking up the honey, she spent about 5 minutes out not venturing very far but certainly not pacing and quite at ease. Her entry back into the dens was through Jo’s door and there was a moment of concern when for the first time the two bears met. Fortunately, there was not a sound they acted as if they had been together all their lives. Although Jo never made it outside a big step had been made in introducing them to each other.

Next Bernie was let out. He was still on his own as Situ had not yet been moved. He is the dominant male and when Corrine approached him there was a fight which probably sounded worse than it was, but thankfully there were no injuries. After what seemed a long time, but in fact was only a few minutes, the two bears were exploring the enclosure once again as if they had always been together. It was very emotional to see them finally outside.

I watched them wondering to myself what they were thinking and whether they were enjoying the moment as much as myself and all the volunteers that were watching them.

On Tuesday Sarawak Forestry resident rehabilitation officer, John Colam, successfully darted Situ and with the help of volunteer Belle, who is a veterinary nurse, and she was moved safely to her new den.

Bernie has been let into the outdoor enclosure to allow us access to their night den and to give Situ time to recover peacefully. The whole procedure of moving these bears to their new home has been amazing, better than could ever of been expected. It was done quietly and professionally with very little stress involved. I feel it was a very touching moment for everybody to witness these bears have their first taste of freedom and I know that all previous volunteers and staff will be thrilled that everything has gone well.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this possible.

We managed to catch everything on video. Visit our YouTube channel if you can't see them

Knocking out the Sun bears

Sun bear recovery

Sun bears see the sun

Heather

Sunbears Move to New Enclosure

2008-02-05T01:29:00.000+08:00

Here's a report on the sunbear move to thier new enclosure by current volunteer Heather

It’s nearly a year since I first came to Borneo and finally 3 out of the 4 sunbears in quarantine have been moved to their new home. Situ a female sunbear was the only one who failed to respond to the anesthetic and has to be left for a few days to recover before she can be sedated again. The other 3 Bernie, Jo and my favourite Corinne were successfully moved without any stress.

They were sedated and then the vet allowed me to assist him with his health checks, they were weighed first and then he gave them a complete health check including a sample of blood to be analysed.

The weather was horrendous and in order to keep them dry and warm we transported them the short distance to their new home in a wheelbarrow covered in hessian sacks. One of this months volunteers, Bella, is a veterinary nurse and she was able to stay with all the bears while they were recovering. All 3 of them woke up after about an hour and surprised us all by being extremely calm and well adjusted to their new surroundings. They are now able to see each other through connecting grills in their night dens and it was expected that there would be some aggression when they saw each other but after a few growls of disapproval they left each other alone.

Once they had all recovered we left them alone to get used to their new surroundings in peace. Situ appeared quiet enough alone in her quarantine cage and all had gone well.

We returned Saturday morning to find everything very peaceful, I had been concerned that Situ and Bernie may have been distressed at having been separated but they were both fine and all bears had eaten well. Situ showed no signs of missing Bernie in fact seemed to be quite content on her own, all the bears had recovered well and once Situ joins them next week we shall make plans to let them outside into their new enclosure, it has been a long time since these bears have been outside.The vet and our resident Conservation Officer John were great and very professional it is a great relief that with their expertise all went well.

More updates soon....

Heather

Doris' Rehabilitation into the Wild

2008-02-03T10:02:00.000+08:00

Doris is 7 years old female orangutan who has spent 7 years in various enclosures and cages in Matang Wildlife Centre. Though she had been released thrice into the rainforest, she returned on every occasion to the security of her cage and the regular meals. Her best friends during these years have been Sambar Deer, who share her enclosure, and humans, both those who are her custodians and those that visit the Centre. A lack of contact with the wild had left Doris wary of the jungle and some even thought she would never climb a tree.

That has all changed. Since the beginning of January, we have been employing a local Malaysian who is skilled in rehabilitation and together with other staff and volunteers, we have been repeatedly taking Doris into the forest. Some of these early outings can be seen on the video clips on this website. We have also started to introduce Doris to baby Ting San and Mamu, which has proved a great success and is allowing her to spend more time with her species and giving her the confidence to climb with them into the tree canopy.

We normally severely limit volunteers' interaction during the rehabilitation process, however, Doris is an exception as she finds the human presence a comfort. We therefore allow a small group of 2 or 3 people to join the outings for educational purposes.

By the end of January, Doris has been regularly walking 50 minutes into the jungle, to a ranger station where we hope to start spending nights outdoors with her. Simply getting her to walk so deep into the forest is a major achievement in itself but on the very last day of January, she disappeared off by herself for half an hour. After searching and calling we eventually found her a small distance away half way up a tree! This is fantastic news and we were ecstatic to see this. The fact that she has the confidence to leave our presence for such an extended time, and that she used that time to climb into the trees and explore her natural domain after only a month's training is very promising for the future. She is also regularly eating natural foods from the forest rather than bananas an papayas. This has been helped by our "Behavioural Enrichment" program that supplements her feed with fruits from the jungle so that she learns gradually some of the 450 different plant species that orangutans have been found to eat in the wild.

Doris' rehabilitation will continue throughout February and we will keep you posted with any and every significant progress.

January at Matang

2008-01-30T01:23:00.000+08:00

Volunteers

January 10^th and ten new volunteers arrive in Kuching after a comfortable night at Singgahsana lodge they eagerly await their first glimpses of Matang Wildlife Centre which is going to be their home for the next month.

There are seven woman at the moment as Alex is unwell in Thailand and will join the group later and two men who all seem very nice. There was a welcome barbeque that helps let everybody get to know each other. The weekend is taken slowly to allow everybody to get over their jet lag. By Monday morning everybody has met the animals knows their way around and are raring to go to work.

Macaquettes

It proves to be an interesting week. A baby macaque named Rocky is brought in. He is very young and needs to be bottle fed, he is wormed and put into cage near another young macaque named Juan that has been with us since the summer. The two of them will be integrated together. Juan insists on Rocky’s milk but that’s okay as he is only young himself and will actually do him good as they get as much pleasure from the sucking action as they do from the milk. These two little monkeys provide hours of entertainment for the volunteers and also spend a lot of time grooming anybody who comes near to them. Volunteers have done a great job enriching their cage with ropes, swings and a hammock.

Also this month saw the release of two of the older Macaquettes into the jungle. Local worker Hilary and volunteer Alex trekked for 2 miles to release them into Kubah National Park.

Live food has been bought from the market and all the macaques have been able to forage for meal worms and they have also been fed live crickets, a local supplier has now been found to supply regular live food. All of the macaques are now given leaves daily to play with and this provides hours of enjoyment. Volunteers have been into the forest to collect fruits and a record is being made of where these fruit trees are so that we can collect them regularly and feed a more natural diet.

Sunbears

A lot of work is being done on the new bear enclosure. Holes have been filled in around the enclosure wall to stop them escaping and drainage has been dug outside around to dry the enclosure out. We hope that they will be released next week. Everybody shares my passion for these bears and are working hard to get everything finished as soon as possible

Leo and I went to the local market to get some grubs for all the bears and the four in quarantine were very interested I would like to make this into a weekly trip and buy enrichment food for all the animals at the centre.The new sunbear enclosure has been finished this month the volunteers have worked so hard the weather in the first two weeks was very hot and humid making the digging of a ditch into a drain back breaking work but with no complaints they went on to filling in holes with cement around the enclosure wall to stop the bears digging their way out. Then two platforms with a dual purpose of shelter underneath and a feeding platform on top were erected in the outside enclosure table like benches were made and put in their night dens for them to sleep. A paint fight ended the hard work when the walls of the night dens were finished off with white paint I think some of the volunteers had more paint on them than the walls but sprits where high as the job was completed

The work has been finished in time for the bears to be comfortably moved at the end of the month a big thank you to everyone the work done was tremendous and has meant we are on schedule for the release.

Orangutans

Mamu, who is now 3 and a half years old and unfortunately her mother’s milk has dried up. She was becoming quite seriously underweight for her age as mum had not been caring for her properly, so the decision was taken by Hillary, who has 18 years experience with the rehabilitation of orangutans, that the best thing to do was to remove her from her mother and introduce her to Ting San. This has worked very well with very little stress shown from mother or baby in fact after two or three days.

Mamu has come on leaps and bounds and the weight gain is visible she enjoys the company of Ting San as they now sleep together or at least they try to sleep after all the play fighting it wont be long before she will be joining Ting San on her daily trips to the forest.

Chiam, Mamus mother was back to playing tug of war games with an old piece of rope with one of the volunteers. She has also been copying the construction workers that are building a new orangutan cage in front of her enclosure by trying to dig her way out. She was covered in mud and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Ting San continues to progress well with her daily forest trips spending more and more time in the trees, and is now having a very good knowledge of the fruiting trees within her area. She has been integrated with Mamu, who was separated from her mother Chiam, after losing a lot of weight. Ting San and Mamu play together every night in a joint night den and they are both benefiting from this time together.

Doris continues to go into the forest and was happy to follow our local rehabilitator Hillary into the forest. She is also having good enrichment in the forest. Doris has taken her first steps to freedom by being taken most days into the forest to join Ting San at the platform area. On the 14^th January she was taken by Hilary and Guillaume to Sungai Buloh rangers station about a 50 minute walk away she has done this trip several times now and is appears very relaxed. She is still not climbing trees on a regular basis but has attempted climbing on a couple of occasions, she is extremely happy to swing through the man made ropes at the platform often copying Ting San

Husbandry and enrichment has also been a big part of this months accomplishments volunteers have spent a lot of time jet washing Chiam , Ganti’s and Aman’s enclosure and leaves have played a large part in keeping them amused in as near as possible natural way without providing them with toys, they also use the leaves to shelter from the rain and sun.

Contractors have been here all month building a cage for a male orangutan coming to Matang from Bukkitt Merah vey soon. Chiam has enjoyed watching their hard labour and copying their work.

Wild Cats

Volunteers have been giving dried fish and rice balls mixed with tuna they have enjoyed this.

Veterinary Clinic

Three volunteers spent 2 days cleaning and re-organising the unused vet clinic in preparation for when a new vet is employed, all the equipment has been cleaned and itemised and a new computer donated by Way out Experiences has been installed

A very big thank you for to all the volunteers for their hard work this month

Heather Roberts (current volunteer at Matang)

Please visit my websit to find out more: Heathers Borneo Diary

Doris in a tree after 3 days!

2008-01-09T19:27:00.000+08:00

It’s only a quick visit to the tree but it is her first – this is massive progress for an orangutan her age and it’s only her 3^rd day of rehabilitation and visiting the jungle. We were expecting it to be a month before she got this far.

To start off with we had trouble getting Doris to let go of me so the two other keepers, Hilary and Jugah, moved to the second feeding platform to tempt her with coconut…but this is quickly spotted by Ting San.

After an hour of me ignoring her and Jugah calling her we had a break through and Doris touched her first tree. After this Hilary prepared some more bait so we could take this into the trees ourselves. After watching me up a tree for a long time and thinking about it she watches Hilary go up too and then amazingly she climbs a series of ropes up into her first tree and is high off the ground.

She comes back down for reassurance and although only a short visit this progress is huge.

Keep your eye for glimpses of Ting San whose happily plays whilst we tempt Doris.

Watch the videos here:

Or visit our Orangutan Project Channel on YouTube

Leo

Doris' Jungle Training Day One

2008-01-06T21:30:00.000+08:00

The most exciting thing to happen this month….

…..Doris took the first of several journeys into the jungle!

We’ve started ta snippet of some of the videos we took on the first day to the site

A word of caution before you watch though, don’t be expecting a free Willy or born free moment. Rehabilitation of orangutan is a notoriously labour intensive project; Doris doesn’t make a bolt for the first tree she sees and brachiate smoothly off to freedom….
In fact we’re not even successful in getting her to let go of us. What you’ll see is the very first baby step in getting her out and into the treeline; after 7 years, for Doris, it is an amazingly big one.

What will follow is hopefully weeks rather than months of getting her to acclimatize to what for her is an alien environment and grow in confidence; untill Hillary and Jugah can teach her what she needs to know.

I only found out as we sat on the platform that even as an infant the keepers were never able to get Doris away from the centre & on subsequent attempts we haven’t always been able to get her as far as we did the first time. However from now on every day Doris will be going out and even if to start with it is only for a single minute and a single yard into the jungle as long as in a week’s time we can make it two, rehabilitation is a step closer.

A lot of people have told us in the past that they do not think Doris can be rehabilitated, that it will be too hard, as she’s too old and too human-centric and I’ve always categorically refused to accept this. I’ve never based my rebuttal on scientific expertise or experience (though I pay them close heed) but on something older than science. Anyone that has met me will know I have a bit of a soft spot for Doris and that she was the first orangutan I connected with when I came to Borneo.

I see Doris’ wings and for all the pleasure it brings me to be around her it pains me daily to know that they’ve been prematurely clipped by captivity. With forestry’s finest, Hillary, her lifelong friend, Jugah, and with the continued funding & indefatigable help volunteers bring I would encourage all others equally enraptured with Doris to watch this year’s progress and see if we can’t teach her to fly again.

Personally I was so lucky to have been a part of that first day, we wanted Jugah to take her up as he is to be her mentor, but when they tried the day before and a few times that morning the centre was too busy with visitors or Doris was just too shy to come out.

It was chance that kept me delayed at a meeting all morning and luck in later passing a man on the road selling (expensive) durian. Chance and luck together brought me Alvin and Eddie to that platform to try one last time for the day at a time Doris when was ready to go and I’m honored to have been in her company for this event.

Tempting Doris out of her Enclosure

At the feeding platform

Ting San plays whilst Doris is busy eating

Doris eating a durian

Doris decides to go back to the centre

If you cant see the videos click here

Thank you to all our past volunteers, without who this amazing progress would not have been possible.

Leo

An update from Leo

2008-01-05T00:06:00.000+08:00

New Years Day 2008

Well it may be the end of December and the end of the year; but it’s very much the start of the next stage of the great orangutan project’s endeavours at the Matang Wildlife and Rehabilitation Centre, as we enter phase two of our involvement here.

Before I can talk about what’s new I have to extend our thanks to everyone who made getting this far possible.

The November group of volunteers was Keith & Caroline’s last; I think that every volunteer and visitor that met them will know what an asset they were in assisting the centre to raise animal husbandry standards. They were also the custodians of the project on the ground for us and the face of WOX to our volunteers. In all things the effort and hours they contributed cannot be understated; without them successfully completing the infrastructural phase of the project we would not be able to begin our part in the rehabilitation of animals at MWC.
Thanks also to the Forestry dept, Matt, Wong, Lisa, James, Laurence and Heather for your invaluable help along the way.

Mostly though a tremendous thank you to each and every one of our past volunteers!
It is impossible for me to articulate how interminably grateful we are to you all.
This isn’t a job for any of us; it is an attempt to make a positive difference towards the conservation of endangered species, particularly the orangutan, within Borneo & that’s no small feat.
We undertake this challenge because we believe that there are people like us, who, wanting the same will give their time, money & sweat into making it happen.
There is not a single thing we have done, or will do, that could have been done without you.
Thank you is an understatement.

As for December……..
Well all of the new staffs are settling in very nicely.

One of WOX’s rehabilitation officers Hillary has been taking his charge, Ting San, out to the jungle feeding platforms every day for rehabilitation training and has begun to teach her how to make nests. He and I have begun an entirely natural diet for her (with the addition of milk) & we make up a nest for her in her night-den each evening to return to and familiarize herself with the feeling of sleeping amidst leaves.

We unsuccessfully tried this with our older females; but will need to be a little more inventive as they simply destroyed the ones we made for them.

We were both concerned that Mamu is a little underweight given that she is nearly 3 years old. Chiam stopped producing milk shortly after returning to the centre so we have decided to bottle feed milk formula to her and her daughter as Hillary feels this is the easiest way to start her lactating again and even if it fails it will be extra nutrition for Mamu.
Much easier said than done though as both Chiam and Ganti always try to steal whatever you are giving to Mamu; but we’ve managed to get milk to Mamu each day so far.

We’ve also recruited another experienced orangutan rehabilitator out of his recent retirement to fill the hole left by Hillary’s departure from Semenggoh (our sister sanctuary)

Our volunteer coordinator Alvin has been perhaps the busiest of us all helping me with doing all of the jobs we would normally rely on volunteers to undertake. After he’s fed, cleaned and medicated all of his charges; he’s out in the jungle looking for wild fruits and nesting materials. Then each afternoon we’ve been giving all of the animals their enrichment before preparing the clinic for the new WOX veterinarian.

(Thanks to Marcia from the last two groups for all of your enrichment ideas I’ve tried several & got the papier-mâché, forage mats & seaweed nests to work J You’ll be interested to know that the eldest female pig tail appeared to dominate on the feeds and that we can move/bribe them from one cage to another quite easily. Also the bears & binturong really loved the blood; which we spread around their enclosure or gave in ice blocks)

At the moment we are hiding all of the orangutan & bear feeds either in puzzles or distributed around their enclosures & high on the feeding platforms in order to amuse and make them work for their food; particularly Aman.
As soon as we have more volunteer hands on the ground again we’ll extend that to all of animals.

Alvin has also been helping me and the contractors with the new sun bear rehabilitation night dens; where the welding has been hampered a little by continual rain and recurrently failing electrical supply; but as I write this there is now only the roof left to go. And as Heather rightly said to me today, there are four bears that are going to have a very Happy New Year

A provisional & flexible release plan has been agreed for the deer, and most orangutan Chiam, Ganti, Doris & Mamu and volunteer work for the beginning of next year will be focused on making this happen.
The keepers, Alvin and I have been spending a long time traipsing around the deepest areas of Matang and Kubah & have selected a location that is far enough away from human habitations and the centre to consider suitable for releasing, feeding and monitoring Chiam.
Along with making ready for our new orange arrivals; the first of whom, a 17yr old male, is due in January.

Guillaume & I attended the Hornbill conference for conservation in Sarawak where Francis Gombek (forestry dept) & I presented our rehabilitation plan for all of the sun bears. We’ll put this up on the site for those that are interested in January along with video of their January transfer and the beginning of the rehabilitation training.

I spent four days over Christmas in the deep jungles of Batang Ai (the long term full wild release site for orangutan successfully rehabilitated at Matang) & received a wonderful present from one of the local Iban communities we work with; when they formally agreed with WOX to no longer hunt any animals for food, apart from the wild boar.

Mr Jugah (who many volunteers may know as Apai) also retired from the forestry department at the end of this year. Since he hand-reared Chiam, Ganti, Doris & most of the orangutans MWC have previously released; we felt that we needed his experience and animal relationships a little bit longer (At least until we have released & integrated Chiam & Ganti as he’s the only person who can safely handle them right now)
So WOX have made him an offer he can’t refuse and taken him on as our third rehabilitation officer. His job with us at the moment is to concentrate solely on Doris and throughout the next 6 months he’ll continue to take her out to the feeding platforms every day for as long as we can keep her there.

One last thank you to almost two years of volunteers; you all brought funding in order for us to be here and provide animals like Aman and Doris with opportunities, you brought your energy to mix cement or lay down boardwalk & brick in tropical heat.

Most of all though you brought the animals, the staff & this centre your love and that is what you bring best.

Happy New Year

Leo and all at Matang

Sunbear Update

2007-12-04T23:28:00.000+08:00

Everyone at Matang has been working hard on the new sunbear enclosure which is due for completion in January.

Thanks to Sarawak Forestry Commission (SFC) cooperation, leadership and contributions we are working towards the world’s first sunbear rehabilitation and release project. This on going work would not have been possible without the hard work of our volunteers – especially Heather and Gareth who have donated over £7000 for the project and have personally been overseeing its construction.

The new half acre enclosure has been adapted to include night dens where the bears will sleep at night as, contrary to popular belief, they are actually not nocturnal. During the day the bears will have access to the outdoor enclosure that has been designed by world class experts and will help them to learn natural behaviors and interact with the environment, assisting with their future rehabilitation into the wild.

Construction of the new night dens

Outside enclosure

Watch this space.

Mission with a Passion

2007-10-02T20:55:00.000+08:00

Leo Biddle, our Borneo Manager, as taken part in a feature on Matang Wildlife Centre and the Great Orangutan Project for the Borneo Post.

Borneo Post Online Sunday 30^th September 2007

Mission with a passion
By Rintos Mail

TO them, saving endangered species, especially the orang utan, is a life-long mission — one they carry out with passion.

They are fully committed to protecting the big apes from the threats of extinction … either in some far-flung corner of Borneo or anywhere conservation of the primates beckons.

“It’s not an ‘over-ambitious’ task. To know that our work helps in some way to protect and care for the orang utan is a reason to wake up smiling every morning.

“I enjoy the time here more than words can express … working so close to such magnificent creatures is a rare privilege,” said conservationist Leo Biddle from England.

He is among three foreign conservationsits and wildlife experts from Wox who are involved in the flagship programme of Great Orang Utan Project (GOP) in Sarawak called The Orang Utan Volunteer Programme.

They have been in Sarawak for nearly two years, trying to put in place a holistic solution for the long-term survival of the orang utans, and at the same time, savour every moment with them and the menagerie of animals at the Matang Wildlife Centre.

WOX is an international voluntary organisation that creates a project aimed at delivering real value to endangered wildlife.

The other two conservationists are primate expert, Keith Lloyd, and veterinary nurse and education officer, Caroline Bellhouse. Together with Biddle and the Wox staff, they are looking after conservation and rehabilitation projects at the Centre.

Lloyd, a senior primate keeper at the London Zoo for 11 years, is at the Centre everyday, helping to look after the orang utan and at the same time, transferring his 30 years hands-on job experience to the locals.

Joining him in this vital conservation programme are Bellhouse and Wox local volunteer co-ordinator, Alvin Gamar.

According to Biddle, the ethics and conservation consultant manager here, the GOP is one of Wox’s many international voluntary schemes to rehabilitate captive or injured orang utan — along with other endangered species — for eventual release back to their natural habitats.

“This is a long-term project and a delicate endeavour which can take several years just to prepare each individual orang utan for return to the wild,” he explained.

Funded by voluntary contributions, the GOP enables volunteers to participate directly in orang utan rehabilitation and release.

Volunteers are involved in the routine husbandry of resident animals and play a significant role in devising labour-intensive behavioural enrichment activities for individual animals.

Biddle, who is fully involved in the programme, said their activities were designed to mimic natural scenarios and teach the animals to respond to them … for example, creating structures for the animals to climb on or forage from within.

The Orang Utan Volunteer Programme is divided into three main phases which, Biddle said, are very conceptual and fluid and fluctuate according to the situation on the ground.

“Broadly speaking, phase I involves ensuring everything is ready for the rehabilitation of animals. Phase II is the long process of rehabilitation while phase III is the release and subsequent monitoring of freed animals.

“Each of these stages is only made possible by constant leadership and close collaboration with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation,” he said.

The programme is now between stages I and II where improved behavioural enrichment structures have been built within all animal enclosures and the apes are now climbing to a greater degree.

Read the full story at Borneo Post Online

August at Matang

2007-09-01T23:15:00.000+08:00

Wow! Where does the time go? Hari Merdeka, Malaysia’s Independence day was celebrated on 31^st August and enjoyed be all. The people of Kuching prepared huge celebrations for the event which marks 50 years of independence for Malaysia. Some of the volunteers and Keith spent Merdeka at a local village with some of the local staff experienced a huge and heartfelt welcome! Great cultural exchange.

This month we had a very special visit from a female Proboscis Monkey (pronounced pro-boss-iss), who seemed to be an ex pet. She appeared healthy other than a mildly paralysed right leg and arm and a deep puncture wound to her right hip, but X-rays showed no breaks. Sadly she succumbed to parasites after a few days, deteriorated and died shortly after.

Two wonderful people have been here all month; Heather (ex-volunteer from February) and her husband Gareth have been here to oversee the building of the new sunbear area. Also this month volunteers have been having fun at The Rainforest World Musical Festival and visiting the local village for our monthly Longhouse dinner as well as spring cleaning the information centre, repairing the boardwalks and recommending a simple de-worming protocol.

We really appreciate all the hard work that our volunteers put into the Centre and enjoy updating you on the wonderful progress that is made! We cannot name all individually, but we trust that you know how much your efforts and energy is appreciated by us!

August Volunteers at Matang

Until next time, Caroline, Keith and the Matang Gang.

August - Gus' Birthday

2007-08-30T01:10:00.000+08:00

Gus (our female orphan) has had a busy few weeks which has included celebrating her official birthday with the Clifford Family from the UK. Emily and Tom turned ten on 16th August and as we estimated that Gus was about two years old, we decided that she should share their birthday! Tom and Emily also raised an amazing one hundred and fifty pounds at their school with cake and bookmark sales which will go towards kitting out the new orang utan training area with ropes and barrels and strong fencing. Thank you very very much.

The training area has been designed with a group of infants in mind which will allow Gus to bond and form a social group in readiness for a (semi) wild life in years to come. Volunteers and local keepers have worked hard to build the very impressive structure that you can see. A local metal works have custom made the fence posts which will need to contain a group of active orange toddlers with the strength and ingenuity of human teenagers!

A second feeding platform has also been completed this month in the Jungle which Gus seems to love spending many hours on familiarising herself with her native habitat.

Gus’s ability to win hearts continues and she’s been featured in various media such as a Malaysian documentary about orang-utans in Sarawak, The Borneo Post and a recent BBC Wildlife magazine.

July 2007

2007-08-30T00:52:00.000+08:00

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.

June happenings at Matang Wildlife Centre

2007-07-01T21:29:00.000+08:00

It is a sign of just how much has been achieved at Matang in the last few weeks that we haven’t had a chance to update you!
There have been two main focuses over the last six weeks or so; raising our confiscated (female) orang utan orphan, Gus, and big male, Aman’s cataract surgery.

You may remember that Gus was rescued from a tiny cage, after her mother was shot on a palm oil plantation, and she has been living at the centre and our house ever since. She has turned out to be a larger than life character and has built up a fan club, while teaching us all a lot about life’s priorities! She has been healthy and happy and recently moved into her swish new nursery den in the orang utan building. She lives next door, but one, to Doris (aged seven years) and next door but one to Aman (19 year old male) on the other side. She is in a stimulating, clean den at night and gets her late night bottle and early morning bottle delivered by room service. During the day she practices her tree climbing and general mischief making skills (she is excelling at both!). We have managed a few play sessions in with Doris, which are fun and exciting as Doris grabs Gus in interest and Gus grabs Caroline’s leg for comfort and Doris is capable of dragging them both around! Luckily Keith, whom Doris adores and respects, is always there to supervise!
Gus has become far more relaxed with people other than her ‘significant others’ (Caroline and Keith) and has taken a particular shine to volunteer Annabel this month which has been great for us all, as Caroline was in the UK briefly.
More of Gus in future blogs but rest assured that she loves ‘helping’ with any job that is going from making rice balls for the bears to giving Aman eye drops…
So to our rather larger hairy orange friend, Aman and his ground breaking surgery. After a few hairy moments- such as the medical equipment being held slightly longer in customs than we anticipated, and Aman not really wanting to go to sleep for the operation- it has been an outstanding success, capturing the interest of the worldwide media (try typing ‘Aman eyes’ into Google). People who know Aman have seen him change from a rather large orange blob, reminiscent of the Sugar Puffs Honey Monster, who tended to sit in one corner of his den, to being far more active, and while not exactly doing chin ups or playing tennis, he is moving around his ropes and climbing platform and best of all, is looking very carefully at his surroundings. A couple of days after his op, he clapped his hands over his head, which we took to be an indication that he feels good! It was an emotional and wonderful day when we saw him, ten days after his op exploring his outdoor area for the first time, by looking rather than feeling. One downside is that it is much harder to put in his eye drops, now that he can see them coming, but we persevere!
On a serious note: heart felt thanks to Dr Izak Venter, Dr Frik Stegmann (both from South Africa) and Dr Amilan (from KL) for performing their miracle; and to Chris, Ash and staff and friends of Jambu restaurant and many others for donations in money, time and effort and to Orang Utan Appeal UK for their generous sponsorship.

As you may have read, the joy of Aman’s successful surgery was dampened when Lena, our new mum, just returned from the jungle, died. Her baby who was just a few weeks old had to be hand raised and our wonderful team of Keith, Matt, Laurence, and volunteers Sara, Annabel and Nick leapt to the fore with top class round the clock care for her. However, she tragically succumbed to the same fate as her mother (a particularly nasty and virulent worm that migrates into the organs) and died on 7th June. Everyone was numbed by these deaths, but I cannot imagine a short life filled with more love. Thanks to everybody who touched her life.

While we are feeling sad, there is one more piece of sad news to share; our colleague and friend, Michael (store man and security man) died suddenly on 20th May. We miss him so much and will be sorry to lose his lovely family. Many volunteers will remember cheeky Michael with a smile…
Other animal news: Chiam and Mamu (mother and daughter orang utans) are doing fine. Mamu turned three years on June 2nd and celebrated by escaping…again! Chiam has made a few more tools from bolts and string and keeps us on our toes as she uses them to ‘fish’ for contraband like hammers, drills, cameras etc…

The bears are looking good with their improved diet and we are raring to start on the new enclosure for the four quarantine bears (more on that another time).
The deer are fine…Little Leo is now about two months old and enjoys his play sessions with Gus; he stamps and kicks and she pulls hair, but all in good humour!
The Leopard Cats have been seen ‘hunting’ treats such as raw eggs, cat biscuits in boomer balls and even cat nip treats from England!
Gibbons, macaques, binturong, porcupine and civet have been enjoying frozen fruits such as citrus and dragon fruit and coconut milk.

A last note of thanks to Keith, Matt, Laurence, Leo, Annabel, Sara and Nick for rallying together and coping with a string of sagas and emergencies that occurred while I was away.

Until next time, then, Caroline and the Matang gang.

Sara's Matang Wildlife Centre Experience

2007-07-01T21:12:00.000+08:00

This is the feedback from one of our wonderful volunteers. It is very moving and she certainly experienced highs and lows of emotions! We are very grateful to Sara for all her help and encouragement and for taking the time to share her feelings.

There are occasions in life when something touches you so deeply it changes your life forever. My month at Matang has done exactly that.
The first week of our volunteer placement was spent learning the ropes, cleaning quarantine, making fire hose hammocks for the orangutan enclosures, painting murals and helping Caroline with behavioural enrichment. However the second week bought about a dramatic turn of events that will be imprinted on my memory forever. Firstly we were lucky enough to be present for Aman’s cataract surgery, the first ever on a orangutan. Although nerve racking at times it was an amazing experience to be a part of, especially watching Aman being released into his outside enclosure with sight for the first time.
Then next we had to deal with the death of one of the orangutans, Lena who left behind her 3 week old little girl Thambi (official name), or Jambu as we all called her.
Lena was released into the wild late last year but returned to the centre 3 weeks prior to our arrival with Jambu and although very tired did not seem visibly sick. Unfortunately though Lena deteriorated and passed away the day after Aman's surgery.
So from here on in our life at Matang became an experience that we can never repeat, and the emotion felt is one that cannot be described as you look down to see a sleeping baby orangutan on your chest.
When we first became a foster family to little Jambu she was doing well, a little on the thin side but eating and sleeping. As instinct dictates, a baby orangutan clings to her mother 24 hours a day so we became that mother and Jambu was always with one of us, whether sleeping or awake. Inflicted with the same parasites as her mother, a problem common to primates that can be fatal, we fought and fought for her going most nights without sleep. But unfortunately her condition also deteriorated and despite all the hours spent with the vet where Keith and I would sit with her all day we lost our Jambu on Thursday the 7th of June. An incredibly sad time as it seemed to us that Lena had bought her back to the sanctuary to look after her, but her mothers calling was obviously too strong. The bond I formed with little Jambu from all those sleepless nights and hours spent lying flat on my back with her is something I still miss but at least I have some amazing memories that will never be forgotten..
Not only did this experience teach us all so much but it has also formed friendships that I hope will last a very long time.
Although there are times when you feel so sad for the welfare of the animals as many of the enclosures are not in line with western standards the dedication and care of the staff, especially Keith, Caroline and Matt give you hope that at least someone is trying to improve the quality of life for not only the orangutans but also many other species that in the not too distant future may be extinct in the wild.

Former Volunteer Experience - February 2007

2007-06-04T13:07:00.000+08:00

"Heather Roberts was a Great Orangutan Project volunteer in February 2007 and sent us in the following experience for the Orangutan Diaries"

I had the most wonderful experience at Matang Wildlife Centre, one of the main issues that month was Aman a very large male who had developed cataracts, I very rarely saw him move, and although he seemed contended to just remain in one place most of the day, and was very sociable when you went to visit him, it seemed a shame that he had no interest in his surroundings obviously because he could not see them. I can remember putting hard boiled eggs in the grass very near to where he sits and watching him trying to find them, he knew they were there but could only feel around with his hands to find them it was actually quite upsetting to watch.
Whilst I was there a vet came to see him and agreed it was possible to operate and that he should have good vision afterwards.
I have the pleasure of going back to Matang in July and am looking forward to seeing the improvement in him.
The other big change whilst I was there was a change in all the animals diet, by the end of the month most of the animals had had other foods introduced and on the day I went home I can remember seeing the bears laying in the sun sleeping and looking very contented, I have to say that was the highlight of my experience.
The centre is small with a variety of animals it has a very friendly atmosphere and everyone is very passionate about what they are doing, there is a lot more to do but it will happen.
The orangutangs are great playing with Doris and watching little Gus grow up daily is amazing, its an experience very hard to put into words but as long as you are prepared for hard work in hot conditions and can cope emotionally with different standards of animal care you will have a great time.

Aman all well

2007-06-03T10:59:00.001+08:00

It's now official. Aman can see again and all is fine. He has been let out into his enclosure and is moving about as normal again, only this time he can see. Whereas before he was walking on his knuckles, feeling his way with his hands, now he just looks and moves. There are even signs that he is happy, with unusual movements such as throwing his hands into the air, and more brisk and frequent movement around his climbing structures.

When he first came out, he was still shading his eyes from the bright sun but this is normal. As time goes by, he will be able to adapt more and more to his newfound eyesight, and relearn behaviours that he once had. So good news all round for Aman.

The operation was sponsored by the Orangutan Appeal UK, with volunteer donations going towards Aman's aftercare.

Latest on Aman's recovery

2007-05-22T17:45:00.000+08:00

Aman is doing well. Every day he is coaxed to the bars using food and drink and then receives his daily eye drops to help with recovery. He has shown definite signs of seeing which is great news.

Here Caroline used a pipette to drop the solution into Aman's eyes. Soon, he will be released into his outside enclosure.

The operation was sponsored by the Orangutan Appeal UK, with volunteer donations going towards Aman's aftercare.

Aman - The Latest after his Operation

2007-05-18T17:50:00.000+08:00

Aman is recovering very well after being the first adult orangutan ever to have cataract surgery performed on him. The vets checke up on him this morning and everything is fine. Aman will now have to stay indoors for a week ot two whilst he recovers. It is improtant to keep him confined so that it is easy to check up on him, to apply his daily eye drops and to avoid exposure to direct sunlight.

The vets had to use an enormous amount of drugs to keep him unconscious during the operation so he slept for a few hours afterward the operation and woke up feeling very groggy. He has been sitting around feeling sorry for himself, closing his eyes some of the time but thankfully he has not been rubbing his eyes so all should go well. The vets will return again on Sunday for a final check up before returning to South Africa.

He has been looking around at things which is a new behaviour and we are sure that his sight has returned which is fantastic news. Aman celebrated the successful operation with a fresh and tasty dragonfruit.

Aman during his operation - on the left is a clear eye, on the right the opaque lens from the cataract is visible.

The operation was sponsored by the Orangutan Appeal UK, with volunteer donations going towards Aman's aftercare.

World First Cataract Operation

2007-05-17T09:39:00.000+08:00

The Great Orangutan Project made it possible for the world's first cataract operation on an adult orangutan yesterday. With funding for the operation coming from the Orangutan Appeal UK, and lengthy preparation from Keith Lloyd and Caroline Bellhouse and other GOP team members, Aman was operated on by two world-class experts.

It was a tense time but incredibly awe inspiring. At first Aman was moving about as Dr Stegmann was trying to insert a line into Aman's arm to give him steady dosage of drugs, That freaked people out somewhat as a large male orangutan started to wake up surrounded by the operating team and the press core, but they soon got him to sleep and then Dr Izak started the operation itself.

Ultrasound was used to disperse the cataract. The lens is like a jelly covering and crystals can start forming onto it. As they coalesce, they form into one continuous layer we know as a cataract. All it takes is sound waves to move the crystals off the lens and into the fluid of the eye. The fluid is then sucked out and new clear fluid injected. This is what happened for Aman and he is now recovering well.

We will know whether he will see very shortly and keep you updated.

March in Matang Wildlife Centre

2007-04-24T15:45:00.000+08:00

Aman, our big 19 year old male, is enjoying his new low level decking that keeps him out of the mud in his favourite corner of his enclosure. We are all getting very excited at the prospect of his cataract eye surgery in a month’s time! We had a fantastically successful fundraising evening at the Jambu restaurant in Kuching with the owners Chris and Ashfa who kindly combined their 2nd anniversary with a “Save Aman’s Eyes” fundraising event. A stunning print of Aman’s face, a signed drawing of Aman by Keith Lloyd, our resident expert, and an Aman t-shirt were all auctioned and at the end of the night a grand total of RM2,850 (£425) was raised! That will nearly pay for the anesthetist to fly from South Africa to Kuching in May. Fantastic!!! Hopefully, the online appeal will also bring in more pennies (and pounds and dollars…) to help to pay for everything from bottles of eye drops to the surgeon’s accommodation and freighting the delicate equipment around the world. It isn’t too late to donate. Please send your money NOW, see the link on this website for details - http://www.orangutanproject.com/index.php?prd_sub_id=24

And as great as all that news is, I have some MORE exciting news, hot off the press….. drum roll please……… Keith was rewarded for working today on a Sunday as he was the first to see LENA”S NEW BABY! Yes folks! The self released lady has finally given birth, we think to a girl and she chose to come back to the orangutan building when Keith was in there painting Gus’s new den (the rescued orphand orangutan), to show him her orange bundle of fluff. That really shows the degree of trust she has in him to choose him as the first one to show her new baby to and even let him take photographs from 3 feet away…very special stuff.

Lena and new baby return to the Orangutan Building

So, as if we needed another excuse to ask for donations…Aman now has a second (probably) daughter who he will be able to SEE once he has the surgery. Please help this fantastic cause.

The bear project (to get 4 bears out from terribly cramped cages into a larger outdoor area) is underway, with contractors quoting for the wall that will section off the end of Doris’ enclosure to become bear land. Thanks to incredibly generous donation from Heather, an ex-volunteer, and her husband Gareth, we can start as soon as possible. We’ll keep you posted.

Thanks to the improved diet regime as well as regular mind bending and stimulating enrichment activities for the animals, there has been a definite increase in spring like behaviours in some of our animals; we have seen two bears mating and the two binturong (bear cats) enjoyed a ‘special hug’ as well the other day. Although we are pressed for funds and for space, the fact that the animals are not pacing and plucking any more from hunger and boredom, and are engaging in such flirtatious behaviour must mean that they are feeling more contented with their lives. We are waiting to see if the crocodile eggs are indeed fertile and will hatch…yet another example of natural behaviour resulting almost certainly from improved conditions and diets.

Last bit of news for now is that we are currently raising another orphan Sambar deer (marsh deer) that was rejected by his mother. Gus has enjoyed helping out with bottle feeding and surprisingly has met a creature with nearly as much attitude as she has. It was hilarious seeing a 3 day old deer stamping his hooves next to a startled one and a half year old orangutan! I am sure that they will forge a strong friendship, since although that seems unlikely, Doris (orangutan) and Judy and Jacob (Sambar deer) have demonstrated to all their fondness for each other with play fighting and stroking. The baby has been named Little Leo, after our newest team member Leo, who has spent two weeks with us, finding out how the programme and Matang Wildlife Centre run. It has been great working with him.

Well, I have had my hour of peace, I can hear Gus stirring so it must be time to chop up more fruit and veg and get ready for the bundle of energy to burst forth into action….

The Future for Gus

2007-04-23T23:39:00.000+08:00

The plan for Gus is to befriend her with Doris, a process which we have started by spending an hour or so each day next door to Doris, letting the two girls get acquainted by swapping food items, playing mini tugs of war and just gazing at each other. They now seem quite relaxed in each other’s company and we will actually go in with Doris in the next week. We’ll keep you posted!

Once they are good friends, Doris and Gus can live next door to each other and then in months to come we can start taking them out into the forest and teaching them about forest foods and how to gather them. It is a long term project but one that will hopefully result in two semi-wild, contented, safe orangutans who spend their life in the forest but visit the feeding platform for supplementary food and for health checks (which can simply be a visual once over by a keeper).

Gus' Life

2007-04-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

Gus (aka Augustina) the confiscated orang utan has been with us for over 2 months now and never has one small creature demanded so much time, effort and love…and because of her gorgeous looks and winning character she has received all that and more!!!
Gus now weighs in at 8kgs which has been a healthy, steady gain from the 6kg on arrival. She has had health checks by a human GP and a local vet and has been tested for malaria (thankfully negative), Hep A and meliodosis (results pending). Her heart and lungs are clear and she really does look the picture of health.

She travels daily from our house to Matang Wildlife Centre in the car, which she loves (she has a travel cage on the back seat) as long as the car is moving! If the car stops then she tests the strength of the cage door and all 4 padlocks are needed to contain her!

During the day she joins in with all sorts of activities such as preparing behavioural enrichment items like rice balls or husk parcels for the other animals and even has some herself some days! She then accompanies whoever is free on the rounds, feeding the bears, binturong, civet, porcupines, macaques, gibbons and of course the orangutans.

She is getting used to the building where she will soon live…her new nursery is looking very swanky in citrus colours but the building needs some major work before it is totally safe for her to be left there. Keith is now cross eyed from all the painting of bar work in there! At the moment it is open to external assault from Lena and Ganti and also is subject to constant and vigorous vandalism from 3 yr old Mamu who loves squeezing in and out of her den, much to her mother, Chiam’s distress. So the sooner the building is repaired the better for all concerned!
Gus sometimes has a midday nap and then is raring to go in the afternoon, playing in the trees, or creating havoc in the manager’s office.

Each evening she gladly piles into the car and it is back home with us. Then she has another hour or so climbing and hanging, stretching and rolling on her home jungle gym that Keith has lovingly created for her. This has become something of an attraction locally, with up to 50 people at any one time admiring and interacting with her! It is a good chance to educate the locals and talk about the plight of orangutans generally, though how much of the message gets across is not clear…many people do not see a problem with having an orangutan as a pet.

It’s not just people who visit her; we have had special visits from a neighbours’ rabbit and even a pig tailed macaque who has also been hand raised and who may be surrendered to Matang in the next few months. She has won the hearts of her fans; a German boy dropped off a hard boiled Easter egg on Good Friday, and locals will often drop by with some fruit for her. It is great as she gets though quite a bit of fruit, veg, leaves, yoghurt, cheese and milk each day.

After her play, she comes inside for a bottle of milk and plays in her night cage until about 8 or 9pm. Then her last bottle is around 10pm (if we can stay awake) and hopefully she may sleep through until the 6.30 alarm call and a new day begins!

Baby rescued from pet trade

2007-03-06T20:22:00.000+08:00

New Member of the Matang Family.

On Tuesday 6th February Keith, our residet primate expert in Borneo, headed with John Colam, a member of staff with the authorities, to Sibu, about 7 hours drive from Matang Wildlife Centre to collect an orphan orangutan.
The only details we were given were that police had raided the house of a murder suspect and who had fled when they entered, but they found a tiny orangutan in a small box in the house. We were told that he was a male and weighed 2kg so we were expecting a very frail and frightened baby. He had been cared for by a Forestry worker for a week, and had been fed bananas and condensed (sweet) milk straight from the tin…not a very healthy diet!

The journey home was over 7 hours and the baby was very restless and active. ‘He’ turned out to be a 'she' and weighed in at 6kg and we estimate that she was a bit over a year, having a full set of teeth.

The first night she was a bit timid but took to a bottle of baby milk easily and snuggled up to us for comfort. Luckily we were able to get a large crate for her to live in our house which was very lucky. We had been expecting a tiny baby but got a bouncing active toddler!

She slept through the first night, as she still does usually, and the next day we took her to a very kind (human) doctor for a health check. She was well behaved and let him check her heart, lungs and ears. She didn’t even squeak when he took a pin prick blood sample from her foot…she seemed fascinated!

Luckily the results for malaria were negative and she was generally health apart from a very heavy worm burden which gave her a big pot belly. A few days of worm tablets (us too, just in case!) and she was fine. She was also given multi-vitamin supplements. We collected her in nappies and so we continued for a few days, but soon decided it was pointless and that her little bottom wasn’t made for them!

From day 2 we decided that she needs a routine and so she comes in her travel cage to work with us at Matang Wildlife Centre. There she has a second play cage and she is being rehabilitated, learning to climb ropes and trees in which to swing. She is remarkably accomplished!!

She has constant minders and the volunteers also help to ‘baby sit’ her during the day. Each night she comes home and settles very well to her bottle after a last play on her jungle gym (built by Keith in our garden).

We have been told that she was orphaned when her mother was shot entering a palm oil plantation…like so many others. We are giving her the best life that we can until she can be taken for walks into the jungle (with friends we hope) where she may be able to live a happy semi wild or even wild existence. But it is a very long and complicated process, remembering that orang utans stay with their mothers for around 5 years and learn everything from them, like which foods are safe to how to build a nest each night. We are very conscious of informing her admirers – from our local Malaysian neighbours who watch her play in our garden to visitors at Matang Wildlife Centre - that while she is very cute and looks a lot of fun to have around, that she is a wild animal who’s mother was shot dead while she clung on and screamed and who was intended to be smuggled into the pet trade to a life of uncertainty. We explain that we are caring for her and hope to train her to adapt to a life in the trees without relying on people.

She eats well and enjoys a huge selection of fruits and vegetables as well as leaves…she loves picking a banana leaf from our garden for herself (with a bit of help) and will try to make a nest with it too.

She is interested in most things and likes to just be around people, as she would with Mum. And the volunters from the February group fell in love with her! She doesn’t need constant entertainment; rather she will happily play with a bucket of water (supervised of course) or a cardboard box for quite some time. She usually has a couple of naps during the day.

More news soon!!!

Enrichment

2007-03-06T19:39:00.000+08:00

Caroline Bellhouse works for Way Out Experiences and is Education and Interpretation Officer for the Borneo Wildlife Volunteer Project. Here is her latest blog for a special weekend at Matang Wildlife Centre at the beginning of February:

Well, a lot has been going on at Matang Wildlife centre as usual! We have had visits from both Afzaal (UK based WOX) and Guillaume (KL based WOX) which has been great, both on a personal level and in terms of moving ahead with the project. A lot was achieved in a very short time!

Our other visitors, James and Lisa (from Adelaide and Auckland Zoos respectively)have toiled relentlessly from dawn to dusk every day and they are having a big impact on the improvement of the animals’ lives as well as helping to work with and teach volunteers about animal husbandry.

Lisa’s first focus has been Behavioural Enrichment (B.E.) of the animals on a daily basis. In a nutshell, this means creating activities for captive animals which encourage natural behaviours and stimulate interest in their surroundings. We have used donated boomer balls (purpose made large, tough, hollow balls with small holes into which small food items are put) and Kongs (similar idea, but smaller and made from tough rubber) which have been very popular with the bears and the monkeys.
The animals spend ages trying to roll or bounce or chew them to get the food out! Hessian sacks are an eternal favourite with the orang utans, either with food or just for wearing, cuddling, cleaning etc, ice blocks with novel foods like dried fish, raisins etc, puzzle feeders as well as really simple things like clumps of grass scattered on the roof so that the animals have to think about how to get them. By ‘novel’ food items we mean foods that are not a part of their everyday diet, a bit like a treat, but of course, a healthy treat! B.E does not have to involve food; Aman the big male orang utan has loved ‘playing’ with a washing up bowl, small bucket, and small ladle, with a bit of water too of course. Orang utan Chiam and her baby Mamu have been keenly scrubbing their walls and floors with a bowl, cloth, and a dash of washing up liquid. They will want to be on the pay roll soon! All this takes time and effort for humans too and the volunteers have been a huge help.

We have much more flexibility and far more options now that we have a new freezer; it is chocablock with tasty ice blocks, fishy rice balls and other healthy things. The freezer was paid for with volunteer contributions…so thanks to all our volunteers!!!

Lisa’s second focus has been the animal diets and she is working with the staff to ensure that all the animals get the optimum food intake within the budget.

Meanwhile, James has been welding, welding and welding! Many of the animals are housed in areas that are not totally safe due to old and damaged bar work and James has made them safer, both for the animals and for the people working near them. When not welding, James usually has a chainsaw in his hand and is, with Keith, overseeing the building of level platforms and dens for the outdoor bears. Once again, the chainsaw has been bought with volunteer contributions, thanks again!

We also have purchased a sparkly new jet washer , a favourite of many past volunteers, so we can get cleaning and painting again!

We have good news and bad news…James has to leave us as Adelaide Zoo are missing him (humph) BUT the good news is that Lisa has managed to extend her stay until May (hurrah!) and James may be able to come back if funds come through to continue the bear improvements. We are indebted to them both! Thank you!
Until next time,
Keith and Caroline

Busy Weekend - it's not all orangutans

2007-03-05T21:24:00.000+08:00

Caroline Bellhouse works for Way Out Experiences and is Education and Interpretation Officer for the Borneo Wildlife Volunteer Project. Here is her latest blog for a special weekend at Matang Wildlife Centre at the beginning of February:

The first weekend of February saw a few important changes and progress made at the centre. Way Out Experiences organized a second visit from staff at Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur. For those of you have read the past blogs, you will know that they visited in November and helped to relocate 5 Salt Water Crocodiles. Well, two of those crocs, Charlotte and Marc (named after volunteers!) obviously feel very contented in their new home, as Charlotte recently laid about a dozen eggs just near the pond. Rozwan, a reptile expert persuaded Matt and Caroline to accompany him and a colleague to enter the enclosure and, with a sheet of plywood for protection, they checked and counted the eggs. Some of the eggs were cracked and these were later blown and cleaned and will be used for educational purposes. The remaining pristine eggs were kept level and held up to the light … the embryos were just visible, wow! We added leaf litter and sand to a small mound that the crocs had made and carefully buried the eggs. We are expecting them to hatch in early May. At this stage we are not sure what the next step will be, as we do not have the room for any more crocs at Matang and releasing them in the area would seem foolhardy as they are bound to come into conflict with humans. We will keep you updated on any decisions.
Continuing with reptiles, we let Dr Reza (‘Doc’), a vet from Zoo Negara, loose with the tortoises and turtles so that he could count, identify and health check them. He was more than happy to oblige and was particularly pleased to meet our Spiny Shelled Turtle (Heosemys spinosa), as well as our male Big Headed Turtle (Orlitia borneensis) which as you can tell from his Latin name, is definitely a local. These animals have been rescued from the pet trade/food market and are unsuitable for release as no doubt they will be hunted again.
One of the other main missions for the weekend was to tranquilise Jacob, our adult male Sambar deer and relocate him. He has lived happily with Judy (his mother), in with Doris the orang utan for some years, but since Keith Jnr (our hand raised Sambar deer) recently moved in, Jacob has realised that he is grown up now and feels that it is his duty to be macho and show his strength. Sporting rather large antlers at this time of year, this means that he is a liability to staff and volunteers and so the decision was made to move him to a small yard next to the main deer enclosure.
So, under the guidance of Doc and John (animal keeper), Jacob was tranquilised and then lifted (by about 6 men!) onto a trolley with a Hessian sack duvet (stuffed with leaves) to keep him comfortable. His eyes and ears were covered and his breathing and temperature were monitored, and within about ten minutes he was in his new home. He was given a reversal drug and stood up within minutes, though he was groggy for a while. He is still getting used to his new home, complete with special pellet trough built into the fence.
On a social level, we all spent an evening at the local Iban Longhouse, sharing dinner, and dancing and singing…great fun was had by all! (The head man and a couple of others work at Matang Wildlife Centre)
So, at the end of the weekend, not only had a lot been achieved in terms of practical animal work, but also we had managed to link together various people (from management to vet and keeper to volunteer ), from two centres, four zoos, different countries and cultures (Malaysian, Iban, British, Australasian) to share knowledge and skills. Keith and I were totally exhausted but happy at the success of the programme.
Thanks to all those involved…without your efforts the animals’ lives would not have improved that little bit…

Happy New Year 2007! What's new at Matang Wildlife Centre

2007-02-02T15:41:00.000+08:00

Caroline Bellhouse works for Way Out Experiences and is Education and Interpretation Officer for the Borneo Wildlife Volunteer Project. Here is her latest blog for January 2007:

I thought I had better hurry up and tell you what has been happening at Matang as things are moving along so fast in 2007!! We have 5 terrific, hardworking volunteers here this month who jumped straight in to the hard stuff…mixing cement, building paths and constructing a huge climbing structure for Aman our large adult male orang utan. The volunteers had their semi-wild orangutan ‘fix’ on Day 1 when one the rehabilitated orangutans, Miss Ganti (see "Meet the Orangutans" on the main website), decided to turn up and oversee the path building…

So far this month we have:

• Made new blue fire hose hammocks (from money donated by some Australian day visitors); these will be for the bears and/or orangutans to lounge on.
• Built the big resident male, Aman, an enormous new climbing structure, higher than the perimeter walls so now he will be able to catch the breeze on those hot days (ie nearly everyday!). This is specially important because he walls are all concrete and absorb loads of heat.

• Extended the gravel path behind Aman’s enclosure…the rainy season was washing the path away!
• Painted a new den for macaque Matt, with classy jungly pictures, complete with tiger! We will let you know how he likes it.
• Built a new tool shed, just for volunteer equipment, meaning that the clinic were we storing tools is now free of at last.
• Renovated the chicken pen so they now have perches, and fresh food to peck at (thanks James and Lisa!)
• Moved Keith Jnr (our orphan Sambar deer, now about ten months old) into Doris’ (Aman's orangutan daughter) paddock where he is settling into life with Judy and Jacob the adult Sambar deer. He seems very contented in there with lots of space to roam and browse.

• Released a soft shelled turtle!! This was a wonderful moment and more than one (happy) tear was shed as we watched ‘Emma’ burrow into the sandy stream…

Special Visitors:
We have been very lucky to have James from Adelaide Zoo and Lisa from Auckland Zoo staying and focusing all their expertise on improving conditions for the Sun Bears at Matang, some of whom have been held in small cages with nothing to do for many months. James has been welding frantically (see picture) and Lisa is establishing a superb Behavioral Enrichment Programme for all the animals at the centre.

So the schedule now at about 11am is that the volunteers help to prepare tasty, nutritious treats in inventive ways in order to stimulate that animals’ mental and physical faculties! The foods are ‘novel’ which means that they are not in the normal daily diet but are carefully monitored to complement their regular rations.

These days visitors to the Centre are likely to see the bears scratching and licking at huge bucket sized fruity ice blocks, the gibbons and macaques absorbed in removing nuts from plastic bottles plugged with banana leaves or sugar cane, or orangutans busily sorting through Hessian sacks stuffed with grass cuttings, leaves and twigs. The place is a hive of industry for humans and animals alike!!

The volunteers enjoyed an evening at the Natural Frog Pond at Mt Kuba, where they saw, by torchlight, plenty of frogs, spawn and other nocturnal creatures like a snake, scorpion and spiders.

Upcoming Events:
We are all very excited that Rozwan is returning from Zoo Negara (the Malaysian National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur) with five colleagues and they will be involved in renovating the turtle/tortoise pond as well as giving the crocs more sand and stones to dig in.

We are saving for:
• A freezer of our own to make iceblocks and other treats for the animals.
• Aman to have cataract eye surgery. We have a surgeon who can come in May. We need to raise money for flights and equipment and are launching a campaign as I write.

Better go now; take care from Caroline - in the office (just for today!) and Keith and Matt - in Aman’s enclosure, good bye!

Volunteers and Education, Education, Education

2007-01-15T13:13:00.000+08:00

A hot and balmy Monday saw Matang Wildlife Centre (MWC) come alive with groups of jungle cats, monkeys, gibbons, crocodiles and orangutans engaged in weird activities such as picking up drinking straws with their feet, measuring their hands and pulling faces in a mirror!

The ‘animals’ were in fact children (aged 10 to 12) from 2 local villages who were taking part in ‘The Magical World of Orangutans' Education Day developed, run and funded jointly by Sarawak Forestry Corporation and Way Out Experiences (WOX). The volunteers were enthusiastic and vital group leaders and guides and Matt and Keith were stationed at their orangutan enclosures to give informal chats about them.

Months in the planning, the programme represents the rekindling of regular activity/educational days held at MWC with the aim of promoting a deeper empathy and understanding of the local environment and its wildlife in local children.

The children had an action-packed day from Welcome and Registration at 8am to receiving a smart certificate from an SFC official around 5pm. They received a workbook full of activities to complete; answers were found on information boards or on completion of an activity. Facts and figures about orangutans were dutifully recorded (such as how long they live, what are threats in the wild, why orangutans are at MWC in the first place and so on)

Delicious locally made packed meals provided energy for the day’s activities, which included close observation of the Centre’s orangutans as well as fun games and serious discussions, all of which stimulated interest in this flagship species of Sarawak. Before and after attitude assessment questionnaires were completed by all participants.

A highlight was when, after each group measured their largest member’s arm span, an Aman sized shirt was modelled by one of the children…eyes were wide and jaws dropped (they did at the tailor shop too!!)

So by the end of the day each child had walked the Animal Enclosure Trail, been up close and personal with an orangutan, discussed serious local conservation issues, received a tree bark pencil case and certificate; the drawing competition had then heads down and the ‘Creating Corridors” game had some of them chopped down by a ‘chainsaw’!
Once again, an action packed day of cooperation and learning for all involved and I think at the end of it we were more exhausted than after a hard day’s building orangutan climbing frames! Thank you to everyone involved!

Well, must go now, we visit the Longhouse to have dinner with the locals tonight and then Matt, Keith and I will have a welcome break; Matt to Thailand and us to England. So, until next time, keep reading the blogs and supporting our wonderful animals!

(Caroline Bellhouse is our Education and Interpretation expert at Matang Wildlife Centre, along with our Primate expert Keith Lloyd and Facilitator Matt Simpson.)