Children asked to respect orangutans in the wild
Children asked to respect orangutans in the wild
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Pangkalan Bun
Popo, 27, gently cuddled Lauren, a three-month old orangutan
(Pongo Pygmaeus) after feeding her at the Orangutan Care Center
and Quarantine (OCCQ) in Pasir Panjang, West Kotawaringin
regency, Central Kalimantan.
Lauren was among the nine orangutans the care center recently
received from people in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, and
Pontianak, West Kalimantan. The people voluntarily surrendered
the orangutans to the care center.
The nine orangutans had to undergo quarantine for several
weeks to see if they had any sign of diseases. This procedure is
important to prevent newcomers from infecting other inhabitants.
"Usually, the orangutans suffer intestinal worms," said Popo
who is a staffer at the care center.
After the orangutans are declared free of disease, they are
trained before being released in the nearby Lamandau conservation
forest.
Compared to the other orangutans that have stayed longer at
the care center, those that just arrived appeared quieter.
Perhaps, they needed time to adapt to their new surroundings.
The orangutans that have been staying there longer appeared
more confident. The orangutans often spit at visitors who take
photographs.
Care center manager Robert Ferdinand said that the orangutans
that had passed the quarantine period would be trained how to
make a nest and to forage for food in the forest.
"We employ the Dayak people (an indigenous Kalimantan tribe)
who can make a nest as perfectly as the orangutans. They train
the orangutans," he added.
Currently, there were 220 orangutans in the care center,
awaiting "deployment" to the jungle. After their release, the
orangutans are monitored for two weeks to ensure they are able to
adapt to their habitat.
Robert appreciated the people who voluntarily handed over
their orangutans, many of which had become a family pet for
years.
Encouraging people to hand over the orangutans has become the
main focus of the campaign of environmental organizations and
activists. One such organization is the Indonesian Orangutan
Foundation (Yayorin).
Yayorin executive secretary Togo Simorangkir acknowledged that
his organization had been intensifying its campaign among local
people to make them aware of its conservation program.
Through cooperation with cellular phone maker Nokia, Yayorin
organized a drawing competition among school students. The
foundation also teaches the students how to deal with their
environment.
The activities were part of the awareness week program that
took place from Aug. 2 through Aug.8.
The enthusiasm of local people participating in the awareness
week program could be seen during the closing of the program on
Aug. 8, 2004.
Despite the scorching sunlight, students and their parents
enthusiastically viewed the posters and pictures on display at
the Sampuraga soccer field, Pangkalan Bun.
Siswatiningsih, who accompanied his daughter to the event,
said that he hoped the competition could be organized regularly
to help improve the awareness of local people on environmental
issues.
Al-Wardah kindergarten teacher Rita said that the event would
help students to learn about the environment as early as
possible.
The foundation has also organized field trips for students
around the Pangkalan Bun (the capital of West Kotawaringin
regency) at Camp Leaky in the Tanjung Puting National Park, the
habitat of the orangutan.
Usually, they travel to the national park by speed boat. It
takes an hour from Kumai, a local port.
The field trip program started last May and will last until
May next year. The conservation program has prompted local
students to form "Generasi Konservasi (Genksi)" literally meaning
generation for conservation.
"We appreciate Nokia for its concern for environmental
conservation, especially the orangutan," Simorangkir said.
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Additional information
- There are two species of orangutan: Pongo abelii (orangutan in
Sumatra) and Pongo Pygmaeus (orangutan in Kalimantan). The total
number of orangutan in Sumatra is estimated to reach 7,000 while
the Kalimantan's species is 58,000. Orangutan is an endangered
species. It is estimated that it will face extinction in 2020.
- Orangutans spend almost 60 percent their time eating. There eat
around 400 types of food, including fruits, leaves, bark, flowers
and insects.
- Threats to the orangutan included the opening of forest areas
for cultivation, illegal logging, forest fires and poachers.
- Female orangutans care for their children for six years and are
very protective of their babies. People have to kill the mother
to take the baby from its mother. Baby orangutans are then sold
as pets.
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