Monti becomes more independent

IAR Vet Dr Adi updates us on the progress of infant orangutan Monti at our emergency rescue centre in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

Monti is a female baby orangutan from Delta Pawan. When she arrived at the IAR rehabilitation centre on 30 November last year she was the real baby of the group. Now she is a lot bigger and weighs 5.7 kg. She has also grown dense long hair all over her body.

Monti is friends with Bunga and Melky and they are sometimes seen playing together on the platform in the 'baby school' at the centre. But much of the time Monti prefers to spend time alone, playing happily in the trees.

Since sleeping in an enclosure with Sigit, Monti has become far more active and independent. She no longer relies on the human carers to make her feel safe. She has also grown increasingly bold and brave at climbing even the tallest trees at the centre.

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Update on the slow loris release project

UK researcher Richard Moore is working with our team in Java to study the viability of returning captive lorises to the wild.

So far we have released four lorises with collars. Sadly one has died of unknown causes. By the time we retrieved the body, it was already starting to decompose so there was no way of conducting a post-mortem investigation. We knew its rough location, but could not see it at first. It was 23m up in a pine tree, which we needed ropes to climb. By the time we had located it, got hold of some ropes and climbed the tree - it looked like it had already been dead for four days or so. It was a great shame, because it appeared to be feeding well, and moving freely up to this point. (Also it was in an area where it was easy for us to follow it).

The other loris released at that time travelled down the mountain, out of the forest and into some gardens. We thought this was dangerous for the loris as there are many dogs in the area and also people working. As the loris was not in thick forest and quite exposed, we figured if the people came across it they might capture it to sell in the markets - so we caught it again ourselves and re-released it higher up. Three days later it was back in the gardens, this time further down, in between houses. It had even crossed a road to get there. I am uncertain why it is choosing to come here, as it is very noisy and slightly exposed. It also seems very happy to travel on the ground – which is quite surprising, although there are some other reports of this. I have seen it travelling across large grassed areas, with its head just bobbing up and down above the grass. Anyway, we recaptured it again, and plan to get its weight back up, then try again in a different location.

In the second release we now have one loris still quite high up the mountain. It is in an area which is virtually impossible to access, owing to the very steep sided cliffs - although we HAVE spent the last week trying to reach it! The signal seems to be moving so it would appear to be still alive, which is the main thing. And in this area it is probably very safe from recapture.

The other loris in the second collared release disappeared for a week (ie. we lost the signal), but last night we managed to track it down again. It has moved right round the mountain and come down a different valley, but is now very close to paddy fields. This may also be a problem, as there are many people working in this area too. However, we are planning to go up there tonight and see how it is doing. Hopefully if we give it some time, it may choose to move back up into a safer location.

Kiki the slow loris from Cilandak

At the end of May IAR's rescue team went to the house of Mr and Mrs Johan in West Cilandak, South Jakarta. The people wanted to give their slow loris to International Animal Rescue.

The slow loris had turned up in the yard of Mr Johan's house and was found hanging on the bird cage. It might have come from a nearby house.

Like most people, Mr Johan thought that the animal was a cuscus. But a week later he found out that it was in fact a slow loris which is a protected species and cannot be a pet. So then Mr Johan tried to look for a place that would accept the slow loris and he found IAR. It was a female Javan slow loris named Kiki.

While Mr Johan was taking care of Kiki, he did not know that she was a nocturnal animal. He gave her banana, carrot and papaya which isn't the slow loris' natural food. The cage where Kiki lived was also very open and let in lots of sunlight so that she couldn't sleep well during the day. Besides that, the location of the cage was near an alley with plenty of people and noises disturbing Kiki's tranquillity. These conditions made her very stressed, and by the fifth day she had started to lose her appetite.

Kiki's condition when the rescue team arrived was very sad. She was very thin with no canine teeth on her upper or lower jaw (they had been removed by force), while the other teeth were flat (it seems they had intentionally been made flat using nail clippers so that the slow loris would look like a tame animal). She was taken to IAR's rehabilitation centre in Ciapus-Bogor and, after being checked by the medical team, she was moved into a quarantine cage.

Let's hope that Kiki can live a healthier life from now on and if possible one day go back to her home in the wild.

We welcome a new slow loris to Ciapus

On 27 July we took in a Sumatran slow loris (Nycticebus Coucang) weighing 800 grams and 34 cm in length. He was handed over by someone from Bekasi Timur, Jakarta.

According to his owner, the slow loris had been purchased from a dealer in Jakarta City for Rp. 150,000. At the time the trader said he was about five months old and called Olip. The slow loris had been placed in a laundry basket of clothes but, when the team went to rescue him, they found him under a table, hiding behind a toy piano.

The owner had no idea how to take care of a slow loris, so thankfully had decided to hand him over to IAR. Apparently he had injured his left thigh, although a student who was present when he was rescued said the little animal already had the wound when he was bought from the market.

At least now Olip will receive the specialist care and food he needs and IAR’s vets can tend to his wound.

Passa, the greater slow loris: from Sumatra to Java

Five years ago Mrs Yayat came to Pulau Bengkalis, Riau, Sumatra to follow the transmigration programme. Every once in a while she came back to her hometown in Pasar Sabtu Desa Situ Udik Kecamatan Cibungbulang Bogor, Java.

One time she came back from Sumatra bringing a baby animal. It was the baby of a slow loris. As she was not staying in Java for long, the baby was then reared by her cousin. News of this baby eventually reached IAR. So on 29 May 2010 the rescue team from IAR Indonesia came to the house of Mrs Yayat's cousin.

The baby was being kept inside a small wooden box in the kitchen. For food, the owner was giving it only cucumber and banana. Because of the lack of knowledge about the nocturnal behaviour of the slow loris, the owner took it out of the box every morning.

The baby was a male greater slow loris. He had been named Passa. When the rescue team arrived Passa looked unhealthy and stressed (he is aggressive). He didn't respond even when the rescue team gave him insects.

Mrs Yayah and her cousin had no idea that the animal they were taking care of was a slow loris, they thought it was a cuscus. Also they did not know that the slow loris is a protected animal and not a pet.

At the moment Passa is in the quarantine cage at IAR's Rehabilitation Centre in Indonesia, Ciapus.

It is high time people were aware of the slow loris and realised that they are animals protected by the law.

IAR Indonesia has the biggest slow loris rehabilitation centre. Right now we are about to release four slow lorises into Batutegi Lampung, Sumatra.

Let's hope that one day Passa will also live free again in the wild.

Vet student reports on her internship experience in Indonesia

I am a last year veterinary student from Norway, and for the last three months I have volunteered at the veterinary clinic at IAR's rescue and rehabilitation centre in Ciapus, Indonesia as part of my last year medical training.

In advance I was correctly informed that this is not a clinic with state of the art, high technological equipment (although they have endoscopic equipment, x-ray machine and an inhalation anesthesia machine) or surgical activity around the clock. What intrigued me to come was to learn more about preventive and treatment medicine for primates as well as their rehabilitation and release. The centre cares for the Slow Loris (Javanese and Sumatran) and Long Tailed and Pig Tailed Macaque.

My days in the clinic consisted of helping out with the treatments of the animals in the clinic in the morning, in the afternoons we had surgeries or worked on treatment plans for some of the more chronic patients. The surgeries were often dental surgeries on the Loris, necessary because poachers cruelly clip their teeth of before trying to sell them. Another interesting procedure was the endoscopic sterilization of the female Macaques; minimal invasive and very effective. I also spent some time doing observations of the animals in the cages, especially individuals that were due to be released. During my stay I was fortunate enough to participate on a release, 12 Long Tailed Macaques and 4 Sumatran Slow Lorises were released in a protected forest area in Lampung, Sumatra. It was incredible to accompany the animals on their way back out into the wild, and very educational to follow the organization process that leads up to the release itself.

For a 10 day period I visited IAR's Orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre in Kalimantan. It was my first encounter with Orangutans and they are truly fascinating. The centre had at the time I was there seven babies and eight adult individuals, held in separate locations. I stayed mostly in the baby school, helping the Indonesian animal carers keeping the small ones active and safe and assisting the veterinarians. The veterinary work consisted of critical care for an orphaned four month old baby, wound management and preventive measurements to prevent infections of the gastro intestinal tract. I've learned a lot about the troubles and challenges of a young rescue centre and the importance of preventive and natural medicine when working with primates.

It has been a wonderful three months, in most part accredited to the fascinating primates and all the great people that made me feel like a part of the centre.

Silje Robertsen,
Vet Student from Norway

Huta finds three's company in Ketapang

Volunteer Paloma updates us on Huta's new living arrangements at International Animal Rescue's emergency centre in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

Huta, the orangutan who was rescued in March, has been placed in a cage with Mona and Nicky, two orangutans of similar age. They all seem to be getting on well, particularly Huta and Mona, who will often play together, chasing each other, laughing and hugging. Thankfully their play isn't as rough as Jojo and Jingo's!

Nicky and Huta also get on, although Nicky has assumed a more dominant role, and often takes Huta's food. To make sure Huta gets her fair share, we try to feed them separately and make sure each gets enough. If things between them get too serious, Mona always steps in, playing the big sister role.

A similar thing has happened with enrichment, with Nicky, and sometimes Mona, trying to take Huta's share of the enrichment we give them all. Again, IAR keepers always put extra enrichment in the cage, to make sure Huta isn't left out.

Despite these small problems, all three orangutans seem to love being together, and Huta is clearly much happier having some sisterly company!