Orangutan care center planned

Orangutan care center planned

PANGKALAN BUN, Central Kalimantan: An Orangutan Care Center
and Quarantine will be set up by the International Orangutan
Foundation and Indonesia's Forestry Ministry in Kotawaringin
Barat district, Central Kalimantan.

The Rp 400 million (US$45,455) center, to be built on one-
hectare in Pasir Panjang village, is expected to serve as a
support facility for other ape rehabilitation centers in the
world, according to orangutan expert, Birute MF Galdikas.

The plan to establish the center was initiated by a group of
orangutan lovers from the United States and Britain to prevent it
from becoming extinct.

Only 3,000 orangutans can now be found living in Tanjung
Puting here.

Galdikas, an American who married a Dayak, said the center
would employ at least 40 workers. She said locals would be
recruited for some positions but veterinarians and other experts
would come from abroad.

The center will be the first of its kind in the country and
will become a model for orangutan centers to be set up in East
Kalimantan and Bohorok, North Sumatra.

A center for orangutan trainers will also be established in
the next two years. (mds)