Guest guest Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Dear Friends of the Orangutan, I will try to fully update you when I return from Borneo next week, but in the meantime, if you are interested, here are excerpts from an e-journal I have been writing for the schoolchildren. Michelle Day 1 (Christmas Eve) After about 36 hours of travel, I arrived in Central Borneo. As the plane descended through the cloud cover on my arrival, the Sebangau Forest came into view, looking like a million heads of broccoli. Unfortunately, upon closer observation, I noticed the many criss-crossing, perfectly straight logging trails cutting deep into the forest. These incursions will open the forest for relentless and quick destruction, as well as giving hunters easier access to the orangutans surviving there. A few minutes later, I saw the edge of the forest, the clear-felling encroaching like a gaping wound. There were only a few skeletal remains of trees here, bleached white by the fierce Equatorial sun. Trunks of small, less valuable trees were scattered like so many matchsticks, which is exactly what they are. In the dry season, these will burn out of control, blackening the sky for hundreds of miles and putting the adjacent forest at great risk. Every time I visit, I witness the ever-increasing destruction of the forest, and it deeply saddens me to think of ALL the thousands of animals that have perished as a result. That afternoon at Nyaru Menteng, dozens and dozens of orangutans tumbled out of the forest, some hand in hand, others walking on two feet and some somersaulting as they approached the evening play area. At the end of each day, all the groups of orangutans from all over the forest reconvene here to have an hour or so of play or rest, plus lots of eating, before they go off to bed. Like children, some doze off straight away, exhausted from their busy day, but most remain very playful and can be quite “nakal” (naughty) about coming in to bed. These little ones don’t yet build nests for themselves, so they sleep in large group cages, filled with nesting platforms and nesting materials, swings and toys. The smallest ones of all sleep in laundry baskets filled with leaves. The babysitters stay all night with them, feeding them whenever they are hungry. Altogether there are now 109 orangutans in baby school alone (out of over 300 at the centre). Last time I visited there were about 40, and the first time, just 12. Their numbers are more than tripling every year, which indicates the problem is getting worse...more and more mothers are being killed for these babies to be captured, and for each one we successfully rescue, at least 3 or 4 have died. If we can’t successfully protect the forest in which they live, the number of orangutans at our centre will continue to increase. Amongst this vast number of seemingly similar youngsters, I instantly recognised many of my old friends-orangutans I had known and cared for in the past. Of course, they were bigger and fatter now, but their faces remain nearly the same. Many came up to the window to greet me: Nabima, Sumo, Dancow, Taruna, Koko and Martizen, all of whom I have known since they were VERY small indeed! The orangutans almost seem to be performing, but they really are NOT bothered whether they have an audience or not. They get up to such antics! One orangutan was standing on two feet, holding his arms over his head, and another snuck up behind and pulled his foot out from under him! Others find a piece of wood, some leaves or the rind of a watermelon and place these on their heads, and proceed to parade about showing off their new headwear. Most orangutans play fight, but unlike children, they don’t seem to fall out as a result of an over-zealous thump. Another orangutan lay down on her back, grasped both feet in the air with her hands and proceeded to rock, just like a rocking chair. Day 2 Christmas Day Today, instead of a visit from Father Christmas we got a visit from a 2 metre long python as thick as a man’s leg! The babysitters were more scared than the orangutans, but their panic helped to teach the little ones to watch out for snakes. Three men had to carry it out and put it into a forest with no orangutans. A new little orangutan was rescued today. He was covered in dreadlocks as a result of living in his own filth inside a tiny dark cage almost all his life. We cut off his dreadlocks, leaving him with hair of many different lengths and named him Marley, after the reggae singer Bob Marley. He is so frightened; he sits with hunched shoulders, his head slunk deep into his chest and just looks left to right over and over as if waiting for something terrible to happen. When he is picked up he pushes away from whoever his carrying him with his legs straight out and knees locked. He makes no sound. Under Marley’s hair he is just skin and bones and his muscles are all atrophied from being in a cage hardly bigger than him, where all he did all day was turn around in circles. He eventually took a little walk, very slowly, to hide under a thick, lush tree in the cool darkness. There he methodically moved leaf litter from one side of him to the other. He does not seem to know how to open fruit like bananas and oranges by himself. It will be a long road to recovery for this little guy. In the afternoon, just as the orangutans were settling into their play, I rolled a half dozen balls to them. ALL were watching me, most unsure, a few curious. Several ran away from the balls, but a few brave souls gathered them up. Within seconds one was punctured, creating the perfect orangutan sized helmet. One orangutan threw his a little up and forward and caught it, repeatedly, as he walked around the play area. Some fought over them. One ball went up a tree (and dropped). Eventually, most of the orangutans had a go, and it was well worth the £4 I spent on them! Meanwhile, gorgeous little Taruna showed off for me and just kept being cute...I fell quite in love with her! Day 3 Boxing Day In the afternoon, my Martizen came to see me through the window a few times, as well as a couple of other curious souls who do not yet know me. Martizen was so tiny and clumsy when I first met him. Then he didn’t even know how to hold onto a branch. Now he is a big strong boy climbing high in the trees all day long. Centil and her new baby had been taken out of her cage for a bit of a play and climb, but refused to return until quite late. Eventually, smells from the outdoor kitchen caught her attention and she came down to investigate. Lone collected her and escorted her back to her sleeping quarters, and every single orangutan desperately wanted to have a look at the baby. Dozens and dozens of orangutans were following her and trying to catch a glimpse, like paparazzi trying to photograph a superstar! Day 4 (27th December) I spent the first couple of hours of the day watching over Marley, though I still can’t touch him because of my quarantine. (I had the help of David, our vet as well). Today, Marley won’t eat or drink and just sits perfectly still under his cool, dark tree. His head is still deep into his chest and he is hunched over. He now protests like made and screams when he is picked up or someone takes his hand. Lone is able to stroke him but nothing more at this point, without stressing him. It takes a lot of patience when they at first refuse any tenderness at all, because they don’t understand it and don’t trust it. It takes a lot of time as well. I feel confident though that our staff will be able to help Marley...I’ve seen this so often with so many new babies, but now after the years, they are happy and healthy and living in the forest, and it makes it all worth it. Got back from town just in time for the babies’ daily pilgrimage, and some guests that had arrived. They are missionaries who operate helicopters to get food and supplies to deprived and remote communities. They also help us when we have to rescue or release orangutans in remote places...the helicopter can get where trucks and boats can’t. Sadly, the missionary group is thinking of moving operations to Sulawesi, which means we won’t have this help anymore. We are very worried about how we are going to do rescues and releases without the helicopters and pilots upon which we have depended for years. The family brought their 3 small children, and the orangutans were soooo interested in them! But since they haven’t been tested for Hepatitis and TB, the people could not get too close to the orangutans. The orangutans didn’t seem to know that rule and they all kept approaching wanting to play, and the staff were constantly scrambling to collect them and bring them back. Just as they moved one back, another one would try to come and play. It became very silly after awhile, but it was clear that the orangutans were winning the game. Lone asked me to get the large soft toy orangutan from the office. The orangutans are frightened of this toy and will not approach if it is in the vicinity. Most orangutans are scared of any toy that has eyes and will stay well away. We sat the toy orangutan between the guests and the orangutans and then they were able to view and photograph without any problem. Lone went to fetch Keke, one of my favourite orangutans. She is 100% blind but one of the best with forest skills and nest making! She is already 6 years old and bigger than Lone (not yet bigger than me though!), but she is about the most gentle orangutan you could ever meet. She just sits in your lap with her arms around you and blows kisses at you. She loves for me to blow into her mouth, which when I am with her I do for her. If, however, I stop to talk to someone, she will gently take my face in both her hands and put it back in front of hers and open my mouth in order to tell me to blow some more. Lots of people send us soft toys, which aren’t the best. If they have eyes as they most likely do, there are only a few orangutans brave enough to handle them. And those orangutans immediately pluck or bite out the eyes. Then it is usually a matter of minutes before they have successfully disembowelled the entire victim. We gave them 3 soft toys today, and their fluffy white innards were scattered all over the ground. We had a white Christmas after all! The stuffing is even more fun than the toy itself so they got endless joy out of this. Actually, one soft toy survived the attack and remained intact even after 2 hours of constant abuse. (This was Peter Rabbit). Day 5 (28th December) This afternoon, I went out with my bodyguard (the big toy orangutan) to watch the babies...but they are learning!!! Taruna, Nabima and Bim Bim are no longer afraid of the toy and approached me as if it were nothing at all. So, I had to go back inside and watch from the window. It started to rain heavily so they all went into their indoor quarters early. The electricity went out again so we could do no work, and we talked and talked about research. Whilst we were talking our rescue team returned from the palm oil plantations with 2 rescued wild orangutans...a huge, fully grown male with cheek pads and a female. After they are tested for diseases, treated and completed quarantine, they will be transferred to a safer forest. Today, Marley ate all his rambutans (his favourite fruit, literally translated “hairy fruit” because it has long thick hairs on it). He was delighted to be given a box to play with and to sleep in. DAY 6 (29th December) Today, Marley was doing really well. He talks now—little squeaks which sound a bit like he is saying, “Hey! Hi there! It’s me! Come and see me! Let’s chat!” He ate bananas, cucumbers, aubergine, sugar cane and rambutans and drank plenty of milk. I think he will be alright after all. I went to see him several times throughout the day so he can get to know me and not be scared. It seems to be working. I also went to visit some other orangutans: Centil and Dewi with their new babies, Hercules, the big male, and Iqbal, an old friend who is almost black like a chimpanzee. The new wild orangutans were in the back, a little out of sight (for their own good—it is less stressful), and the male is HUGE! This afternoon, it was raining off and on, and like children, the orangutans became a little bonkers as a result. They were complete clowns all afternoon, and had us laughing out heads off at the tricks they get up to; mostly silly acrobats and funny faces and noises, or beating the life out of each other and laughing all the while. Keke crawled into a rice sack and lay there very still, until someone would come over to get the rice sack and she’d jump out and attack, scaring them half to death. Taruna climbed onto the ledge of the office window and fell off (all of about half a metre!) and looked very glum about it. Sumo went round and sat on top of everybody, quite pleased with himself. I finally laid eyes on a little orangutan I looked after last time I was here, named Holly. Before she had hardly any hair and was a very sad little girl, completely unsure about herself and the world. But today she is full of life, with long rich hair and a playful demeanour. Once again, despite the overwhelming changes, I still recognised her face immediately. DAY 7 (30th December) I worked in the office for a few hours, taking frequent breaks to go see Marley, who we now call Bahawan officially (and Wan for short). He has taken to his behaviour of walking in circles in his cage. It is hoped when he is through with quarantine, and has access to the whole forest, that this stereotypical behaviour will stop. DAY 8 (New Year’s Eve) I went to see Bahawan first thing when I got in. He had somewhat managed to open his own bananas, but had obviously made a pig’s ear of it. They looked as if he had tried to squeeze the banana out like a tube of toothpaste. He drank a huge amount of milk. He likes to fill his very large mouth with its stretchy lips and swish it around for a long time before he swallows it. Tragically, one of the rescued wild orangutans died in the night, a big male. The autopsy indicated that the poor guy was filled with infection, including his lungs, which may indicate he died of advanced tuberculosis (TB). The disease is highly infectious, and if he did have it, all of the staff that has worked with him in quarantine will need to be checked. It is unfortunate that it was too late for us to do anything to help him. Later in the day, our rescue team returned with a female and her baby. It seems like every couple of days we rescue another orangutan or two...there are so many now as they clear the forests to make oil palm plantations. Unless we get there first, when a grown orangutan appears in an area with humans, it will be killed, and usually the babies are taken as pets or to be sold. Luckily, we have made friends in the communities and they let us know when an orangutan has been sighted so that we can act quickly to rescue it. Throughout the day I continued to visit Bahawan. If he is in his nesting basket he will come down to greet me; I am only frustrated that I can’t give him a reassuring cuddle yet. He is quite funny...when somebody gives him a piece of fruit, he turns his nose up at it. But if you leave it there and walk away, and then spy on him, he will THEN pick up the fruit and eat it. The same thing with leaves: give him some leaves to make a nest and he defiantly throws them out again. Go away for awhile and you will find he has collected them back up and made a nest. But when he notices you back, he will dismantle his nest and throw his leaves out again. During the day, the men laid out some pebbles over a muddy area near the baby house. When the babies came home it was the first thing they noticed. They walked back and forth over them, presumably because they like the feel of them underfoot. A few played with them like marbles on the slick tile steps going into baby house. One stole a purple sock from the washing line and filled it up with pebbles, carefully selected, one by one. A few escaped to the washing line and dismantled it before anyone could stop them. Louie wore his watermelon rind like a hat, but it kept slipping down over his face. Martizen got a huge bunch of bananas, still on the stalk and swung it about, the bananas flying off in every direction. Just a normal afternoon at Nyaru Menteng. DAY 9 (New Year’s Day) Most of today I spent looking after Bahawan. One of the vets took him out of his cage for some exercise, but he went straight under his favourite tree. He obviously felt safe there. Every now and then the vet would take him out from under the tree and put him somewhere else, but he went straight back for his tree. I suggested to the vet that I could look after Bahawan for awhile and she agreed. I decided to let Bahawan sit under his tree as long as he liked, and I’d sit nearby so he’d grow to trust me. Every few minutes I called his name softly, as I do when I visit him, so that he can learn it and my voice. He sat there for about an hour, slowly inspecting the leaves and dirt and branches. Then, of his own accord, he stood up and went for a wander. He walked round to places he had not been before and even started to climb the bamboo. Bamboo can make little orangutans’ hands itch so Jolan moved him to the forest. (I am still in quarantine so I can’t pick him up!) In the forest, he also went on walkabout on the forest floor, drank some water from the stream and found himself a lush patch to lie down in. Another hour there, testing all the leaves around him for smell, taste and feel, his eyes slowly taking in this whole new world, almost as if he couldn’t believe it was all his! Judging by his behaviour, he has probably spent just about his whole life in that little cage: he doesn’t know how to walk or climb properly, he doesn’t know how to hold onto somebody when he is carried or picked up (which is natural for babies from the moment they are born), and everything seems so strange and new to him. Bahawan had a little doze, but kept opening his eyes every time a jungle animal made a sound. Then he’d doze off again. Eventually he had a good long sleep, undisturbed by the forest noises. When he woke up, he saw me hanging on a liana with both hands (my feet still on the ground...I’m getting a little old for swinging too much like Tarzan!) He looked at one of my hands and then the other, as if trying to make sense of it. He gave a little squeak, walked over to a tree near me, and carefully began to climb it. He hugged the whole tree with his body and clung so tightly, and even used his chin to help him along. The tree was growing diagonally, so it wasn’t terribly difficult climbing for your average orangutan, but it was hard work for our little Bahawan. He went up about 1 ½ metres and there he rested, still clasping the tree with all his might for dear life. It was the picture of determination! Coming down from the tree was another lesson. This took even longer than going up! But he did succeed, capping it all off with a little squeak of triumph. Then followed another bit of walkabout, this time deeper into the forest. Another lush patch with foliage of all types draped all about. Another hour of intense exploration of these specimens, interrupted by eating bananas and mangos enthusiastically. (He still couldn’t open them himself and had ignored them up to the point that I peeled them for him). Some time later, the orangutans from the forest were on their way back, and with Bahawan and myself still in quarantine, it was time to return him to his quarantine cage. : ( I started walking back and called Bahawan after me, “Disini, Bahawan, kami pulang” (Come here, Bahawan, time to go home...). And he followed! It was slow going, so Jolan had to pick him up, which he didn’t care for very much. Oh, but he looked so sad to go back into his cage after a day of discovery! Jolan gave him a towel to sleep with but he threw it out. I gave him a little time to settle back in and then gave him the towel back. He took it up to his nesting basket and made a pillow and lay down to sleep. We had a severe rain storm in the late afternoon, and all the youngsters huddled with the babysitters under the eaves of the baby house to wait it out, except for a few invincible characters that stayed playing in the trees. Michelle Desilets Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK " Primates Helping Primates " www.savetheorangutan.org.uk www.savetheorangutan.info Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand: http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733 ===== Michelle Desilets BOS UK www.savetheorangutan.org.uk www.savetheorangutan.info " Primates Helping Primates " Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand: http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733 _________ ALL-NEW Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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