Our boisterous new orangutan babies are bundles of mischief

Our volunteer Carolynn sends us the latest news from our orangutan rescue centre in Ketapang.

Puyol

When our team first rescued one-year-old Puyol last week, his condition was stable but he was in dire need of veterinary care. Puyol was taken from his mother about two months ago by poachers and the incident was likely quite violent given the infected machete wounds on Puyol's abdomen and arms. Doctors Karmele, Anita, and Adi cleaned up Puyol's wounds and began treatments immediately for infection and malnutrition. The day of Puyol's rescue, he immediately latched onto Dr Karmele, and devoured bananas and formula with glee. Giving medication was never a problem since Puyol has been such a good eater. The keepers and volunteers have been toeing the line between showering Puyol with attention and encouraging him to play and climb with our other new baby orangutans Jack and Ledi. It is important to meet any baby's emotional needs, but also very important to begin training for baby school and hopefully an eventual reintroduction into the wild.

The other night, I tried to get Puyol to sleep in his hammock playpen by sitting next to him until he fell asleep. It took about 20 minutes just to get him off my lap without a fuss, and about a half hour later he fell asleep. I went to cover the top of his sleeping area with a towel in the hopes that he would sleep more soundly, but as soon as he sensed movement his head shot up and he gave a look that to me quite clearly meant, "Ummm, I'm not asleep yet. Don't you dare think of tricking me with that towel and walking away." I remember giving similar looks to my poor mother as a child, so I felt it was time I returned the favor. Puyol's head rested again on his teddy bear as soon as he saw me sit down again, and within ten minutes he was out. Success!

Jack and Ledi

Orangutans Jack and Ledi were rescued the same day as Puyol, but luckily they had been kept as pets under better conditions. Both Jack and Ledi are already fantastic climbers and they spend most of their day playing in the trees and swinging on ropes at our rehabilitation center. Watching them can be exhausting though, since Jack has become quite naughty about pulling hair the second your back is turned. He loves the attention and of course the reaction, so you've got to stay on your toes. Ledi wanted nothing to do with this type of horseplay when she first arrived, and she would hoot and holler at the sight of any play-wrestling that she misinterpreted as conflict. It didn't take long for Ledi to get used to it, however, since she has since joined in on the hair pulling sneak attacks. "At least they're healthy," I think to myself. "Very naughty, but healthy indeed."

Sweet, gentle Mely starts to enjoy life

Our volunteer Carolynn sends us the latest news from our orangutan rescue centre in Ketapang.

IAR rescued Mely last month from horrendous conditions where she had been chained to a deck for 15 years, and it has been a privilege to watch her progress here in Ketapang. When Mely first arrived, her steps were very calculated and slow since she literally had to learn how to walk and climb, but now she can zip around her enclosure with ease and has no problems climbing to the top. She has become quite playful, and I always see her weaving in and out of tyre swings and ropes suspended in mid air.

Mely’s personality is so sweet that I never would have guessed that she came from such a horrific background. She always comes over to say hello whenever anyone greets her, and she is incredibly gentle. Sometimes when cleaning the enclosures, the orangutans will try to grab the rakes and brooms to play with them - or in many cases to tear them apart - and sometimes Mely tries to grab at them too. The difference is that Mely always promptly lets go as soon as I say her name somewhat firmly. Her eyes seem to apologize in an, “I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t resist trying to touch it for a second,” kind of way. I know Mely is stronger than I am, but she is so respectful that all I have to do is ask if I need something from her.

Karmila finds friends in baby school and JoJo is overjoyed when John moves in

Our volunteer Carolynn sends us the latest news from our orangutan rescue centre in Ketapang.

Baby school got a new member last week when baby Karmila met the other orangutans for the first time. We had to keep her away for six weeks after her arrival to make certain she is healthy and free of any infectious diseases, and luckily all her test results came back negative. Time for the real fun to begin!

Karmila was very apprehensive about leaving her daddy’s arms (keeper Angi has been her round-the-clock caregiver since she arrived). The other orangutans were extremely curious and all wanted to touch and play with her, so this must have been quite a shock for Karmila. We decided to make her first visit a short one since we didn’t want to overwhelm her, but the next day we tried again. She did much better the second time and climbed up high in the trees with her new buddies.

Melky in particular loves to wrestle play with anyone new entering baby school, so we kept a close eye on Karmila just in case Melky got too rambunctious. A few times we had to intervene, but mostly Karmila did a great job tolerating her new friends’ playing habits.

I caught Melky wrestling a bit too rough with Karmila under the feeding platform a few hours into her stay, and decided to intervene. I yelled out, “Melky no!!!” as I ran over, and before I got there Melky let go of Karmila and started to walk away. As soon as Karmila’s arms were free and Melky’s back was turned, Karmila grabbed a fistful of Melky’s hair with one hand and swatted at him with the other. I’ve never felt more proud of her, since a girl’s got to know how to defend herself! I’m extremely confident Karmila will thrive in baby school, and find her place within the group.

Karmila wasn’t the only orangutan making new friends this week in Ketapang, since orangutan John also moved to a new living space. We introduced John to JoJo and Jingo, and they had such a fun time playing that we decided to keep them together in the same enclosure. As soon as we opened the doors, JoJo immediately ran to John and gave him a big hug that turned into an hour long wrestling match. I haven’t ever seen JoJo so filled with excitement, as he rolled about with John all around their enclosure. Jingo was also clearly excited, but he waited a few moments before joining the match. I frantically took pictures from every angle and position I could think of, but all of the photos turned out looking like the Tasmanian devil in a ball of fur! Luckily, I got a few decent shots later in the week.

Pedro's sickness scares us all, while Mely soon settles in

Volunteer Carolynn from Seattle sends us the latest news from our orangutan rescue centre in Ketapang.

Last week was a stressful one here in Ketapang when our youngest orangutan, baby Pedro, became very ill. Monday morning was business as usual, with Pedro active and happy, but by lunchtime his fever had escalated to 40.2 degrees Celsius, and his eyes had sunk deep into his head with a look of drowsiness and disassociation. Veterinarians Dr Karmele and Dr Adi promptly put in an IV line to help bring his fever down and keep him hydrated while I dabbed his head and chest with a cool washcloth as he lay on my lap.

Pedro’s arms and legs cramped up and his skin was covered in goose-bumps. I was tempted to cover him with a blanket when Dr Karmele said, “The most important thing is that we get his fever down. People are tempted to cover themselves when they have the chills, but this could escalate his fever further. We have to cool his body.”

I prepared myself for the worst, since Pedro still had a fever hours later and large amounts of diarrhea. An IV pump and an Xray machine would have really come in handy to help with monitoring his status and diagnosing the illness, but we haven’t been able to buy either of those yet. Luckily, he was still willing to drink when offered a bottle and Pedro did improve by the end of the day.

The rest of the week was more of the same, with moments of recovery followed by the return of his fever. We tested him for every infectious disease and condition within our means, but no answers were found. Lack of sleep and worry had everyone on edge since Pedro needed 24-hour care. We took shifts watching him, but it’s hard to sleep while worrying about the little guy. Plus, it was quite a challenge keeping a constant eye on Pedro during a shift because he was very curious about the IV line in his arm and kept trying to tug and bite at it.

A wave of relief finally came on Sunday when it had been 24 hours since his last fever, and we were able to remove his IV line. It felt so good to hold him in my arms without a tube keeping him attached to his drip bag. Pedro was free!

The last few days came and went without a problem, and Pedro’s behavior has returned to normal. Well, almost normal, since I think he got used to the non-stop attention and affection over the last week. I’m so relieved our sweet little Pedro is recovering and able to give us strong hugs again.

Watching new orangutan Mely take her first steps into her new enclosure was a prideful moment for everyone at the center. Mely got to do so many things for the first time that day, like touch the hand of another orangutan (besides her mother when she was a baby), climb higher than one meter off the ground, and sleep in a bed of leaves. We were also able to remove the chain around Mely's neck later in the day, which was likely the most freeing moment of all for her.

Mely will have to learn what it means to be an orangutan, and we are delighted to help her with this transition. She will begin learning how to climb and find food off the ground in her current enclosure, but the real test will come once we have the funds to build a fence around our new forest land so that we can move the orangutans there. I can’t wait to see how Mely responds to climbing her first tree!

Life is a barrel of fun for our orangutans in Ketapang

Volunteer Carolynn from Seattle updates us on the orangutans’ antics at our centre in Ketapang.



Baby School

Every now and again we put wood chips in rubber barrels as a type of sensory enrichment for the baby school orangutans. Food based enrichment is the easiest to make since it isn’t a challenge to interest an orangutan in a novel object with a tasty treat hidden inside, but we want to encourage them to explore and learn about new objects even if they aren’t full of yummy foods.

Last week, Monti and Sindi put on quite a show wrestling and hurling handfuls of wood chips all over the place.

Melky particularly made me laugh because he kept leaning his head back and dropping handfuls all over himself. What a delightful mess indeed! All of the orangutans had at least a few chips stuck on them by the time everyone took a rest in one of the elevated mesh nests. Good times.

Emergency Orangutan Centre

We also provided some resourceful enrichment last week at the emergency centre where the adult orangutans live.

After a long afternoon of moving animals between enclosures so that staff could go inside to rearrange their hammocks and swinging ropes, everyone (orangutan and human alike) earned a coconut.

Orangutan John was so excited he hardly knew what to do with himself, running and jumping about. After John had finished eating most of his coconut, I caught him wearing a piece of the shell as a hat. He is such a character.

JoJo opened up a coconut and held it above his head to drink some of the milk, but two streams of milk came rushing out. Jingo hurried over to drink from the other stream, and the two boys enjoyed their refreshing snack together!

Mona is a real madam and John loses a tug of war

Volunteer Carolynn from Seattle updates us on the orangutans’ antics at our centre in Ketapang.

On Sunday we gave all the adult orangutans a few long pieces of sugar cane as part of their enrichment. They all chewed their tebu (Indonesian for sugar cane) in their favorite private places to enjoy a tasty treat, and inevitably a few pieces fell to the ground out of reach. I saw Mona struggling to reach a piece that had fallen, and her fingertips were just barely tapping the top in frustration. She had a stick in the other hand that she used to try to pry it up, but after watching her struggle for a minute or so I decided to come over and help. I bent down, picked up the tebu, and placed it in her hand but she immediately rejected it and threw it back on the ground!

I thought maybe this was somehow an accident so reached down again and brought it up to her more directly. Without hesitation she slapped it out of my hand so sharply that it almost hit me on the head!

Mona is very clear in her communication of, “No, I would not like your help thank you very much!” I decided not to take it personally, particularly as I see her behave the same way with her buddies Huta and Nicky. I recently set up a long PVC tube with holes in it that are just too small to fit fingers through, and I put tasty foods inside like mini bananas and cucumber chunks. Mona is always the first in her group to try to solve the puzzle of ‘how to get to the food’ with new enrichment items, and when Huta and Nicky came to help, she batted their arms away in an, “I’ve got this one,” sort of manner. Mona was right too, because she was the only one who cottoned on to the fact that you have to use a tool like a stick or piece of wire (that she had stolen from me earlier in the day) to push the food to the open sides of the tube. Nicky kept trying to use her tongue to push the food, and Huta for some reason kept trying to push a burlap sack through the holes. Needless to say, Mona figured it out first, and snatched a couple of the bananas. I certainly wouldn’t call Mona a bully though, since after she got her reward she left the device to enjoy her food in her favorite hammock. Nicky and Huta enjoyed the rest of the fruit and veggies having learned how to solve the puzzle by watching her. I’d say they have a fair system for sharing indeed!

Tug of war

A couple of times a week I like to set up a strong rope in between the adult orangutan enclosures to create a “tug of war” game. The orangutans seem to enjoy this game, and I always end up laughing at their differing strategies. Orangutan John is almost always a contender since his enclosure is adjacent to all the others. John is younger than the others, but he puts up a good fight.

The other day I gave one end of the rope to John, and the other to Jingo and Jojo. John playfully began tugging his end from Jojo, but Jojo only had to step on his end to keep it from flying away, since he probably has more strength in one leg than John has in his entire body! Jingo was chewing on the excess rope inside his and Jojo’s enclosure, but it didn’t matter since Jojo’s grip was going nowhere.

I decided to join “Team John” by grabbing the rope and helping him tug, and Jojo immediately shot me a look of betrayal which said, “How dare you take sides with that scrawny child!”

John and I tugged and tugged, but the rope barely moved. I felt something whipping me on the side, and when I looked over John was keeping the rope steady with one arm and flinging the excess rope at me with the other! He was probably just using the opportunity to get more attention, but nonetheless I decided to withdraw and let the boys duel it out. Within 5 or 10 minutes it was all over, with Jojo and Jingo coming out victorious. Some day we’ll have to set up an official bracket with prizes, and maybe a bundle of bananas tied to the middle of the rope as an extra incentive!

The rescued orangutans are full of mischief and fun

New volunteer Carolynn from Seattle updates us on the orangutans’ antics at our centre in Ketapang.

Mona
Mona is both the most gentle and most destructive adult orangutan at our centre in Ketapang. She is always gentle with humans and other orangutans, but the minute she gets her hands on a new enrichment item, destruction is her middle name. She can tear apart hammocks in under an hour, and really enjoys herself while doing so. She always keeps us thinking about how to redesign items to be more durable. Mona also loves to watch baby Karmila climbing in the trees. As soon as we can start building a large fenced enclosure on the new land International Animal Rescue is working to obtain, we hope to introduce these two.

Nicky and Huta
Nicky and Huta live in an enclosure with Mona, and they are constantly teasing each other like Tom and Jerry while Mona relaxes in her hammock. Just as Nicky thinks it’s time to rest and have some quiet time, Juta will surprise her with a poke to the side and start the shenanigans all over again!

John
John is a very curious young orangutan and he loves attention from staff.

He also really enjoys enrichment items with fruit hidden inside. Sometimes he gets frustrated and plays with something else if he is having trouble solving a puzzle, but he always returns to give it another try.

Karmila
Baby Karmila surprises me every day with her climbing skills. I couldn’t believe my eyes the first time we hung her from a tree branch and she climbed all the way to the top of the tree! We assume that she didn’t have many climbing opportunities at her previous home as someone’s pet, so her abilities are all the more impressive. Her skinny little arms are growing bigger and stronger every day, and she drinks lots of milk every few hours to stay energetic. Her progress is a perfect example of what we aim to accomplish here at International Animal Rescue.

Pedro
Pedro gave us a bit of a scare last week when he had a fever of 39.9 degrees celsius. All of the vets and staff gathered around to offer round the clock help. Veterinarian Anita never left his side, and she gently dabbed his head and neck with washcloths and natural herbs to help cool him down. Luckily, his temperature went back to normal, and he is back to climbing on his own and drinking plenty of milk. Whew!

JoJo
JoJo is our strongest and oldest orangutan in Ketapang, and sometimes he shows off his power by spitting bits of food at his keepers (and volunteers)! Most of the time he is very friendly and funny, but when he wants attention, boy he knows how to get it!

Jingo
Jingo is a very playful adult orangutan in Ketapang, and we frequently see him and JoJo wrestling and swinging into each other!