Update 3 from Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project, Borneo

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends of the Orangutan,

It has been a relatively quiet few days since I last

wrote. I did a few more interviews with the Canadian

film team and the babysitters. In one, babysitter Anni

said she was disgusted by people in the region who eat

orangutan, because, she said, “they are animals not

unlike humans.” We gave the babysitters some

follow-up questions in a questionnaire and asked them

to briefly reply. Hanni, who very much wants to be in

the programme, wrote a 10-page response! Translating

this will keep me busy for awhile.

 

I take out Osito, the baby sun bear, every day now

for a run and to climb trees. He spends hours up in

the trees, during which time I collect up fallen

branches and logs to adorn his enclosure. Yesterday,

Osito, quite by accident, discovered that if he broke

off a branch of the tree, it would leave a soft entry

point into the pith of the trunk. This gave him hours

of enjoyment; once he had a hole in the tree, he was

able to dig his long claws in and rip it open to

expose any juicy insects to slurp up. But greed got

the better of him- he was determined to break off

bigger branches to reveal richer pickings. His small

size was no match, although he tried and tried to

bite, pull, and bounce on the branch in a vain attempt

to remove it. He even put his mouth around the branch

and tried to hang from it. He eventually resigned

himself to just snapping off the smaller branches

again.

When Osito makes his way back into his enclosure,

which he always does by his own volition, the play

continues. Hot and panting from the day’s exercises,

he first has a swim in his tub of water. Then he

explores the new accessories in his home, tearing into

rotting logs with gusto. He seems quite content, but

it will be better when he gets to Samboja Lestari,

where we have the largest sun bear sanctuary in the

world, and he can be with others of his type.

 

One evening, as the sun was setting, Lone and I were

walking along in the project when she spotted a group

of red leaf-eating monkeys. The glow of the sun made

the colour of their hair even richer against the

shadows of the leaves. Moving slowly, so as to not

disturb them, we counted at least eight in the tree

tops. But then one of them spotted us, set out the

alarm, and they were in flight, almost literally,

leaping great distances with grace. Lone likened them

to ballerinas.

 

More frequently seen are the macaques, who venture to

the ground of the baby school playground whilst the

orangutans are in the forest. They take this

opportunity to hoover up any remains from breakfast:

fruit skins and pits which might have been missed by

our otherwise meticulous staff who clean up after

every meal. Lately, one brave macaque has moved his

business to the area where Karmele and I live. It

started several days ago, when Karmele went back to

her house at midday, and found that the contents were

messier than usual. Whilst thinking she had better

try to be a little tidier, she had a cool shower.

When she came out, what she first thought was a cat

jumped through the open window, but was of course this

brave macaque. Completely unaffected by Karmele’s

presence, he went about his business, until she

succeeded in shooing him out. As a result, he jumped

through my open window. She came to tell me and I

went back to inspect. The macaque was gone and the

only evidence I had of his break-in was the fact that

my toothpaste had gone missing. So now we must keep

the windows locked up throughout the day, leaving the

house to bake like an oven.

 

Lone insisted they wouldn’t come into the house when

we were there at night, and so we could keep the

windows open through the night to keep cool. How

wrong she was! That night I was woken by the kittens

meowing and their mum growling. Flicking on my

bedside lamp revealed the macaque face to face with

the cat, less than a meter from my bed. The macaque

looked at me and gave no reaction at all. I made a

great racket and shooed him out, thinking that this

would teach him. I was mistaken. He came in again and

again, never doing anything, just staring at the

kittens until I woke to their meows and shooed him out

again. Well, you say, why didn’t you just shut the

window? Nah, I was determined to teach him that he

was not welcome in the house, so each time he came in,

I made a greater and greater racket, and finally he

ventured in no more. Well, not until 5:30 in the

morning, when I woke to a disturbance in my sitting

room. He had come in and completely emptied my

rucksack, the contents scattered everywhere. But this

time when I appeared in the doorway, just seeing my

face made him flee. Since then my window remains shut,

day and night.

 

I just went out to take a break from writing and give

Osito some milk. Having mixed it up lovingly with just

the right proportions, I presented it to him in a

plastic bowl. He lapped it up heartily, but put his

foot on the bowl bringing it precariously close to

tipping over. I quickly righted it, but he must have

thought I was taking it away, as he turned to attack.

His canines went deep into the top and bottom of my

hand. Screaming blue murder brought the attention of

Hanni, who offered to watch Osito while I got one of

the medical team to dress my wounds. So now I am

typing with just one hand. Ouch!

 

I feel I must take this opportunity to clarify a few

things. One reader took issue with the fact that I

have hands-on contact with the orangutans. I’d like to

point out the rigorous protocol in place at Nyaru

Menteng to prevent the transfer of disease between

humans and orangutans. Any visitor to Nyaru Menteng

must provide current negative results of tests for

HIV, Herpes Simplex I and II, Hepatitis A and B, and

TB, as well has up-to-date inoculations.

Additionally, every visitor goes through a 10 day

quarantine, during which time they may not get closer

than 10 meters from the animals. We feel this strict

procedure is necessary and as a result our orangutans

remain remarkably healthy. Having seen other

facilities in which tourists are permitted to approach

orangutans without these regulations, I can only hope

these measures will be adopted by all primate rescue

facilities.

 

I would also like to point out that at Nyaru Menteng,

we believe in the value of nurturing and touch upon

the health and well-being of an individual. How many

pointless primate experiments over the decades have

proven that lack of nurturing and touch compromises

the psychological and physical well-being of infants?

Our babysitters provide the cuddles and tickles that

bring life back to the most listless of orphans. (In

fact, Lone insists each baby is tickled every day!) A

balance is maintained between cuddles and

encouragement to climb and play with others, dependent

on the needs and psyche of the individual. In the late

afternoon, some tired orangutans will seek out the lap

of a babysitter, or simply want to hold her hand.

They are not denied this opportunity. If Lone or I

are amongst the orangutans at this time, they may seek

us out for the same reason. But it is always on THEIR

terms. And it is these occasions which I described in

previous updates.

 

Quick news on the orangutans: Pangi is still

struggling to survive...it is very touch and go. The

babies that were on IV are now all off the IV and

starting to improve. Sponge Bob's skin problem is now

all cleared up. Sponge Bob has a most amazing

laugh...rivalling that of the famous laugh of the

orangutan Beethoven.

 

Michelle

 

(NB This is the 3rd update...if you are missing and

would like either Update 1 or 2, please let me know).

 

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

 

 

 

_________

To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new

Security Centre. http://uk.security.