International Animal Rescue: Update from the orangutan centre

By vet Christine Nelson

Roy shows off his his multi-tasking skills

Times are busy for the orangutans in Sungai Awan, as well as for the humans looking after them.  We are constantly tweaking the routine to better accomodate the animals and give them the most natural day possible.  The orangutans are always being encouraged to climb and explore in the forest.  Some possess strong instincts and are traveling high in the trees in search of fruit, ants, and termites, or they are settling down to make a nest.  Others are busy playing with the group and still learning what the forest has to offer.

Butan, Marcela, Merah, and Roy seem to be at the top of the class in forest school and more regularly go off on their own. Ongky, Ujang, Bandut, Sigit, and Puyol have now been brought from the transit center, which means we have successfully moved nearly half the orangutans to their new home in Sungai Awan. The latest arrivals are enjoying being the biggest individuals on site, but with plans for more moves soon, that won’t last long.  Joyce still acts a bit spoilt and cries when she doesn’t get her way, but she is playing well with Gunung, Noel, Rocky, and Rickina in the small baby group.  They have a fabulous spot in the forest where they can climb high in the trees or play on the hammocks and platforms provided. 

Best buddies Gunung and Noel couldn't be happier
than when they're swinging through the trees!

The transit center is a little quieter these days, as the number of babies that go to the play yard is smaller.  We are still making plans for moving the rest of the younger ones as construction continues.  Many of the adults are becoming familiarized with behaviors like presenting body parts for inspection or giving an arm for drawing blood voluntarily.  This provides some enrichment as well as allows for better medical examination and health management of the older animals.

There is also a new young orangutan who came to the Sungai Awan center in mid-February. He has been named Tribun due to some of the newspaper press coverage his rescue received. He came from the grounds of a palm oil plantation in Kuala Satong, and we became aware of his presence with the help of a local villager.  His behavior is not very wild, which means he was probably kept in captivity for longer than has been admitted to authorities. Tribun is about a year and a half old, and there are faint lines worn into his skin around his waist where he may have been tied or chained.  He can travel pretty fast in the trees, but he is thin and his muscles are not that strong.  We are waiting for him to gain that strength before undergoing his full health tests under anesthesia.  Preliminary blood test results are clear, so hopefully he will meet the other babies in the coming weeks. Read the full story about Tribun’s rescue here.

Poor Tribun was found living in a cardboard box

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January Update from International Animal Rescue: The Orangutan Babies Move Closer to Freedom!

The beginning of 2013 is proving to be exciting and eventful! On January 21st, the Ketapang baby school orangutans made the move to our new center in the village of Sungai Awan. 

The group handled the 25 minute drive well and spent the rest of the day and night getting used to the sights and sounds of their new surroundings in the habituation cages. The next morning, they were introduced into the forest school enclosure, where they will learn what it takes to live like wild orangutans. 

Merah, Galang, and Marcela took to the trees straight away, which was not surprising given their more feral nature. They have been busy building nests and have also taken turns being the one who is reluctant to return to the cage for the night. Butan is one of the fastest climbers, and spends much of her time patrolling the treetops in search of ant nests. Big boy Roy and little Jacky have surprisingly shown some confidence while going high in the trees, and Ceria looks good while swinging there as well. Jack seems to be happiest when acting tough, and he makes a mess by breaking off all the dead branches he can find.

Roy enjoying a snack mid-swing

Both the animals and staff are getting used to the new routine, and we are constantly looking  for the best ways to teach the skills needed for survival and to encourage those individuals who require a little more help.

Joyce shows off her climbing skills

Joyce remains very active and is a clever little girl.  Her medical procedures went well, and the results look good!  In a short time, she will finish her initial isolation period and can be introduced to the group and the forest.  She has been the first to use the accommodation in the spectacular new building dedicated solely to quarantine.  We are trying to wean her off close contact with humans as she is still very dependent on people after living with a family for a year. Joyce is gaining some confidence while climbing in the trees and loves to be outside.  When the wind blows, she opens her mouth wide and lets her tongue taste the breeze.

There will certainly be further news shortly as preparations are made to move more individuals in the near future. 

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Primate diaries from International Animal Rescue's primate centre in Ciapus, Java

Slow loris Marta’s successful return to her natural habitat

On 12 January 2013, a rescued and released Javan slow loris, Marta, had her radio collar removed and was once again free in her natural habitat. Since being released into the Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park in December 2011, she had been carefully watched for a period of 13 months by the IAR loris monitoring team.

Marta's radio-collar is finally removed

Marta was among a number of lorises confiscated from the illegal trade and brought to the IAR Rescue Centre in Java in 2010. She spent a number of months in rehabilitation before she was deemed a suitable candidate for the systematic release programme currently underway. Equipped with a radio-collar, she was first released on Salak Mountain back in May 2010. Unfortunately, after only three weeks she travelled down the mountain and into a village, where there was a risk she would be captured again and sold in one of the notorious pet-markets located nearby. She was caught by the IAR monitoring team and brought back to the centre where she received further rehabilitation. In December 2011 she was released again in a different area of the mountain.

Undergoing further rehabilitation

This time she travelled across the mountain from the habituation cage and quickly established a home range in which she remained for the next 12 months. The monitoring team recorded her movements, her feeding habits and her social behaviour allowing an evaluation of the success of the rehabilitation-release process.

Climbing confidently into the canopy

During the monitoring period she was seen on numerous occasions in close proximity to wild lorises and on one occasion was seen copulating. After a year the IAR medical team climbed up the mountain to give Marta one last check-up and ensure she was fit and healthy and ready for life on her own. Marta’s condition was extremely good and her body weight had remained stable over the 13 months. After her collar was cut off she confidently and quickly climbed up into the canopy and disappeared from sight.

News of the latest arrival at International Animal Rescue’s centre in Ketapang

by Vet Christine Nelson

On 13 January we accepted a new arrival at the emergency care center in Ketapang. Her name is Joyce and she had been living with a family for about a year before she was surrendered into our care with the assistance of the Forestry Department of Ketapang (BKSDA Ketapang). She completed the journey from Kendawangan (3 hours south of Ketapang) dressed in the baby clothes she has been used to wearing, and still clean from her daily baths. Joyce has been living closely with humans in the comfort of air conditioning and a bed to sleep in at night, so she will have some big adjustments to make. She appears to be in good health, but her previous diet consisted mostly of rice and milk, so we have already begun the transition to a more complete and nutritious diet.

Joyce on arrival at the rescue centre

Her caretakers originally obtained her from a man who was trying to trade her for some petrol for his motorbike. She must have been only a few months old at the time, as she is just over a year old now.  Unfortunately, this probably means that her orangutan mother died or, more likely, was killed. 

Joyce has lots of energy and has been keeping us busy as she loves to be on the move. Once she passes her health screening tests and her quarantine period is up, we plan to move her to the new rehabilitation center where she can learn about forest life from the other orangutans and the spacious natural environment.

December Update from the International Animal Rescue Orangutan Centre in Ketapang

Pelangsi is set free and planning starts for the move to the new centre

by Vet Christine Nelson

Pelangsi climbs to freedom

The biggest news in December was, of course, the long-awaited release of Pelangsi into his new  forest home.  A lot of hard work and preparation went into that day, but the team effort paid off and his fond farewell was a terrific achievement.  Behavioral observations are underway and assessments are being made for the next group that will be scheduled for release in the future.

The holidays came and went in a blur as usual, and although nobody likes to step on a scale this time of year, we have begun measuring the weights of the juveniles in our transit area more often.  This will allow us to better assess their nutrition and ensure they are growing properly.  Melky, Bunga, Ongky and the rest are doing well, and it is easier to catch them on their way in for the night as they are often too anxious to go out to the playground earlier in the day to bother being weighed.  Ucil has graduated and is now hanging out with the older babies, which has him spending more time playing and less time trying to escape.

Ucil lends Ceria a hand

Galang is fitting in well in baby school and the novelty of his plentiful haircoat has worn off.  When he was first introduced, Roy and many others followed him closely for a chance to feel or tug his flowing locks.  Rocky is developing some more muscle by trying to keep up with the bigger babies and is now happily eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.  Rickina suffered a little setback with an injury to one of her arms, but she is recovering quickly. Part of her treatment has been rest, which she has decided is no fun, making it difficult to keep her contained.
  
Construction continues at the new center, so we are using the time to prepare equipment and supplies that will need to be moved.  Also, plans are being made and new protocols designed to ensure that daily activities will run smoothly once we are able to settle in.

Galang learns the ropes

Latest loris update from International Animal Rescue’s primate rehabilitation centre in West Java

Mawar is on the road to recovery

by vet Wendi Prameswari

Do you remember the story of poor Mawar the slow loris back in October? She was found with a severe injury to her hand which resulted in her having to have it amputated. It’s been two months since then and thankfully the wound is healing nicely. The skin over the wound is closing really well and new hair is starting to grow. Mawar’s appetite is good, she is active in the cage and her body weight is now 1 kg. For the time being, we are still keeping her under observation and continuing her rehabilitation so that she learns to adapt to her disability.  

Two months on from the amputation op and Mawar is doing well.

Read Mawar's story here.

For more information on International Animal Rescue's work with the slow loris, click here. 

Latest news from International Animal Rescue’s primate rehabilitation centre in West Java

A bright future ahead for female loris Maripili

by vet Wendi Prameswari

Maripili in her cage

Last week an awareness team from the IAR centre in Ciapus visited a loris owner in North Jakarta. Our purpose was to visit the owner and check the health and welfare conditions of the loris. The owner had been keeping the loris as a pet in a small cage for seven months. The loris was identified as a female Javan loris and we called her Maripili. As she has a full set of teeth, our team decided to take her to our rehabilitation centre. Her health check results showed that she was suffering from malnutrition and her body weight was only 600 grams. We hope that after the rehabilitation process, she can be released back to the wild.

Young female Cookie also settles in well

by Johanna Rhode of the Little Fireface Project

Cookie is now in the biggest cage

Good news!!! Our beautiful subadult female "Cookie" has made a head start at the IAR rescue centre. When we found her in the field, she was so lost and confused; walking on the ground in the village during the day. She was also very skinny.

We brought her to the rescue centre where she ate all the food in her new quarantine cage already in the first evening. Now she has already been moved to the biggest cage in the centre and she is doing amazingly well! Next step will be to introduce her to a nice loris friend for socialisation! Let's hope she continues becoming a fantastic and skilled slow loris, so that we can release her one day to live in her forest home again one day.

For more information on International Animal Rescue's slow loris project, please click here.