BOS lends helping hand to orphaned orangutan

BOS lends helping hand to orphaned orangutan

The baby orangutan seemed helpless in a dirty corner of Klandasan
Market, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. As it had been weakened by
several days of illness, nobody was interested in taking care of
the poor little creature.

While everybody thought the baby orangutan would die any
minute on that eventful day in 1992, suddenly someone came to the
animal and showed his love for it.

The kind man was Willie Smith, a wet tropical forest expert
and a specialist at the Indonesian forestry ministry. He picked
up the baby orangutan and took care of it, naming it Uce.

His success in raising Uce led to the establishment of
Balikpapan Orangutan Society (BOS), an association of orangutan
lovers in Balikpapan in 1991. From its inception to 2002, BOS has
successfully reintroduced some 400 orangutans, formerly kept as
pets, to the wilderness. They were first trained at the Samboja
Orangutan Reintroduction Center in East Kalimantan.

Uce was one of the first batch of Samboja-trained orangutans
reintroduced to their original habitat in River Wain forest in
1994. Smith took part in this orangutan reintroduction event.

"To mark this occasion, Smith took a leaf and chewed half of
it. Then he gave the other half of the leaf to Uce. Uce
understood this token of friendship and chewed the other half of
the leaf," said Peter Karsono, executive director of Balikpapan
Orangutan Survival Foundation.

After Willie Smith had found Uce in Klandasan Market and took
care of the baby orangutan, he kept on receiving orangutans from
owners. To cover the cost of taking care of the animals, he asked
Pasir Ridge International School Balikpapan to help finance this
new project.

"This request got an enthusiastic response. The pupils in this
international school organized a fund-raising week to collect
money. The event, highlighted by a number of programs, involved
the pupils' parents and raised US$5,000. Then we got another
donation of US$5,000. So we started managing orangutans," said
Karsono, himself a teacher at the international school.

The great enthusiasm for the conservation of orangutans
lasted through 1994, when people associated with the school and
the international community dwelling in Balikpapan set up
Balikpapan Orangutan Society so that the orangutan rehabilitation
and reintroduction project at Wanariset Samboja could be managed.

As we needed more money for the project, we asked alumnae of
the international school to take part in the undertaking and, in
addition, we also began to establish our network with the
international community. Suddenly, while we were busy taking care
of orangutans in Wanariset Samboja, a great forest fire broke out
in 1997/98.

Hundreds of wild orangutans lost their habitat. They became
ill and stressed and many were seriously wounded after being
beaten up by resettlers who were caught by a great surprise with
the appearance of a large number of orangutans at their dwelling
places.

"We had quite a lot of panicky orangutans then. There were
some 200 of them. We prepared emergency cages in Samboja and the
forestry ministry was involved in this. Then, the overwhelmed
forestry ministry required forest concessionaires to act as
foster parents for these orangutans," Karsono explained.

In 1998 the foundation assigned to take care of orangutans was
renamed Balikpapan Orangutan Survival Foundation, or BOS to the
locals.

BOS has established ties with relevant institutions and
individuals abroad. Now it has sister foundations in 11
countries. It has forged ties with individuals or institutions in
the U.S., Australia, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
Britain, France, Germany and Japan.

Later, the many orangutans that needed a place in Samboja
Orangutan Reintroduction Center were either evicted from their
former habitat or confiscated from the public. A similar center
has been set up in Nyaru Menteng, Central Kalimantan.

Understandably, this undertaking is very costly and to this
end the foundation went out of its way to convince parties abroad
that it was a nonprofit organization with a professional
performance.

"For the 2002 budget, for example, the foundation needed Rp 14
billion to fund its operations. We can account for each cent of
the funds we receive as the foundation is audited by
PricewaterhouseCoopers," Karsono said.

Certainly, the personnel of BOS will not act as baby-sitters
for the baby orangutans forever. Hundred of orangutans now
staying at the reintroduction center must, sooner or later, be
returned to their original habitat.

Basically, orangutans are an integral part of the wet tropical
forest in Kalimantan. To survive, they need fruit, leaves and a
virgin forest. If the orangutans in this forest area fare well,
this means that the wet tropical forest is also in good
condition and that there is equilibrium in the utilization of
natural resources by human beings.

"In conservation, orangutans are often referred to as a
guiding species. The population of orangutans in a particular
place shows that the ecosystem in this area is sound," Karsono
said.

Do these animals know that animal lovers pay great attention
to them? They may know how to thank people, just as Willie Smith
experienced with Uce. In 1997/98, just before the outbreak of the
great forest fire in Kalimantan, Smith met Uce again at the base
camp at River Wain.

Uce, reintroduced to the original habitat she knew before when
still very young, was seen carrying a cute baby orangutan. She
had just given birth to her young and wanted to show the baby to
the personnel in charge.

Unhesitatingly, Uce approached Smith and took a leaf, chewed
half of it and gave the other half to Smith. Then she let Smith
carry her baby, showing her gratitude to Willie Smith.

Uce really understood the meaning of friendship!

-- Tarko Sudiarno