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. ================================================================