Reintroducing orangutans to their habitat

Reintroducing orangutans to their habitat

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Wanariset Samboja,
East Kalimantan

Sugeng, a six-year-old male orangutan, is unique among his kind
in Wanariset Samboja. Bald, this orangutan is rather naughty,
spitting at anybody that comes close to him.

There is a long story behind Sugeng's arrival at the Samboja
Orangutan Reintroduction Center. He used to live like a sailor,
sailing from one island to another. He was kept by a sailor and
just like his master, he was fond of smoking and getting drunk.

In 1999 he was confiscated at Pontianak port in West
Kalimantan and was taken to this center.

"He was troubled by his smoking and drinking habit. We had to
make him kick the habit," said Citra Kasih, project manager of
the center.

"Although it was at first difficult for him to overcome his
addictions, Sugeng soon enough became like a real orangutan. Now
he is in the final stage before being released into the
wilderness."

Sugeng's story is only one of hundreds of orangutans trained
at Wanariset. There is a female orangutan aged two and a half
years called Inge. She came from Balikpapan. This orangutan was
used to a life of luxury, enjoying nice meals and sleeping on a
soft sofa. When she was confiscated and taken to Wanariset, she
suffered from great stress. She was like a spoilt child having to
adjust herself to new surroundings.

"Even today there are still signs that she used to be a spoilt
orangutan. She refuses to look at or stay in a dirty place," said
Kasih, illustrating how the orangutans under her care behave like
human beings.

"Look at Si Dul. He can only drink from carton drinks.
Respati, now in Socialization Cage 2, loves chewing lollipops."

Most of these confiscated orangutans staying at the center
have human habits. They show little of their own identity as
orangutans because they have been kept by human beings since they
were babies. Unconsciously, they have been introduced to a human
environment and their former owners must have thought that
pampering the orangutans would make them happy.

It takes time and a special approach to reintroduce these
orangutans to their original habitat so that they can reclaim
their own identity. The Semboja center has been assigned to take
care of these unfortunate orangutans.

"We, the personnel of this center, are just like babysitters
for the orangutans. They are just like human babies. They need a
mother's love. Just go to the playground and you will see how
close these baby orangutans are to their nannies. Still, no
matter how close we are to them, we should never fall in love
with them. This emotional relationship will harm both the animals
and their nannies. If the nanny is absent, they will reject other
people. We must love all orangutans equally to prevent any envy,"
said Kasih, who said she used to take home baby orangutans when
she was first employed at the center.

Semboja Orangutan Reintroduction Center is part of the
Balikpapan Orangutan Survival Foundation. It was set up in 1991
and has rehabilitated some 400 orangutans and reintroduced them
to their original habitats, Meratus forest and River Wain forest.

It is difficult and costly to reeducate these orangutans.
Executive Director of the foundation, Peter Karsono, said that
each baby orangutan would need some US$4,500 for its training in
the center. This sum will be spent on the orangutan's care,
medicine and meals for three years.

"We have regular donations from the Gibbon Foundation and also
from other donors to cover the expenses. Donors act as foster
parents for the baby orangutans. If you donate $4,500 you can be
a foster parent of an orangutan and will be entitled to give it a
name. Then you will get a periodic report on its development."

At present the center is training 208 orangutans aged between
one and eight years. They are divided based on age and health.
Those aged under two (there are 12 of them) are put in the
playground cage. Orangutans between two and a half years and four
years of age (there are 20 of them) are placed in the
Socialization Cage 1. Those aged between four years and six years
(19 of them) can be found in the Socialization Cage 2 while 48
orangutans aged between six years and seven years are found in
Socialization Cage 3. The remaining orangutans are placed in
quarantine as most of them are suffering from hepatitis.

Great patience is needed in educating baby orangutans,
especially when they have been alienated from their own habitat.
In its own habitat, a baby orangutan depends on its mother until
the age of eight. Only when they are eight years old or older
will they forage for their own food.

Confiscated baby orangutans are educated as if they were in
their real habitat. They must go through a selection and a
training program to prepare them for life in the forest. Left
alone in the wilderness, they are unlikely to survive.

The main task of the center is to take care of the health of
the orangutans and limit their interaction with human beings. The
center also develops their motor skills and jungle survival
skills. Then the center also prepares a plot of land, for the
reintroduction of the orangutans to life in the forest.

Orangutans in socialization cage 3 are first released into a
halfway house before finally being released into a forest.

"This halfway house is an artificial forest where we continue
monitoring them to find out whether these orangutans are really
ready for a forest life. It is at this stage that their destiny
will be determined: whether they need further education or are
ready for a real forest life," said Kasih.

Indeed, baby orangutans have a long way to go before they
finally return to their original habitat. They are usually
separated from their mothers while in the forest. Hunters kill
their mothers before taking them away. After the uncertainties of
the illegal market, they are kept by human beings in an alien
habitat.

Then they are kept by people in the cities and must comply
with the wishes of their masters. Finally, after being
confiscated and trained at the orangutan reintroduction center,
they are again allowed to lead a free life in the forest.