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.