Education and Mitigation of Macaque Conflict Programme

By Indri Hapsari, Education Coordinator

June 27th 2012 education coordinator Indri Hapsari and Mitigation of Macaque Conflict Programme coordinator Ayut Enggeliah Entoh went to the BDN elementary  school in Jakarta to give presentations about animal welfare and the facts about monkeys. Education was given in two parts, first part was 1st – 3rd grades and the second one was 4th – 6th grades. The students were pretty enthusiastic but the 1st -3rd grades seem to be particularly interested. They paid a lot of attention to what the team explained and asked the most questions.

The awareness team provided basic knowledge and facts about monkeys, especially the long- and pig-tailed macaques. They also spoke with the students about animal welfare and explained that we should not keep monkeys or other wildlife as pets.

Most students think that monkeys eat bananas and peanuts and that it would be alright to feed monkeys because it  means that they  care for them.

The public perception  of  monkeys is completely mistaken and  we hope by conducting  awareness activities many people will improve their understanding of these animals. And as a result they will not look at Topeng monyet or feed wild monkeys. Hopefully too they will laugh less when they see a picture of a monkey or ape.

Topeng monyet is a traditional entertainment using monkeys doing tricks like riding a motorcycle, shopping and dancing. The problem is how the monkey is made to do these things. The trainer tortures the monkey by beating  it or not giving it food if it isn’t obedient. Even, to make them walk on their hind legs only, trainers will tie a rope round their necks and pull the rope up so they are forced to stand upright. Not watching or giving money can help lessen the Topeng monyet activity.

Feeding wild monkeys can contribute to their bad habits. Because they can get food easily, they will not try to look for food again in the wild. They will just beg from humans or even steal it.

Lastly, for some reason if people are shown a picture of a monkey they laugh. We’re not sure about the real reason but maybe because monkeys are creatures that people used as objects to tease, someone or some myth and legends put monkeys as the villains in the story. These things create a negative perception in people’s minds.

To change people’s attitudes  is not easy, especially in an elite community where people don’t want to be bothered. One thing we can do is raise awareness among children, and hopefully they will pass the message on to their parents.

Putting our primates back into the wild

Vet Sharmini Julita Paramasivam reports on another success story from our Primate Rescue Centre...

Yayasan IAR Indonesia (YIARI) functions to rescue, rehabilitate and release to the wild two of the most traded primate species in Indonesian pet markets which are slow lorises and macaques. Rehabilitation means that we work hard to remind these animals that they are wild, since usually most spend their lives as pets, away from their own species, consuming human food and performing behaviour that is not normal in the wild. Rehabilitation involves a specific diet and feeding pattern that will make them ‘work’ for their food, something that they must learn in order to survive in the wild. For macaques, socialization with other individuals when they are ready is the next step to form social groups that they will live with in the wild. Once they form a solid group and are showing wild behaviours, the next step is to release them into the wild.

On the 29 May 2012, a release operation involving 6 pig-tailed macaques and 2 slow lorises was carried out on the island of Lampung in Sumatra. The macaques consisted of 5 individuals in a group led by the dominant male named Rambo for his size and soft heart and an individual dominant male called Bendot. It was a good feeling bringing these animals, indigenous to Sumatra, back to where they belong, seeing that they were brought to the Javan island illegally. After a long 24 hour journey from our centre in Ciapus, Java, all the individuals who were in good health although restless after the long journey, were placed in a habituation cage which is a cage made in the forest to allow acclimatization to the wild conditions. 

After 2 days of habituation, it was time for them to have their first taste of freedom. Rambo’s group, consisting of one adult female (Nonong), 2 juvenile females (Julia and Virgo) and a young male (James), were released back into the wild when we cut the net and set them free. It was fantastic to see all the young ones following their leader. When James couldn’t find his way out of the cage and cried for help, the group rushed to his aid and made sure that no member was left behind. Next it was Bendot, who we were afraid might be aggressive, but instead he demonstrated how much the animals appreciate our work when he stepped out of the cage and walked away in complete peace. The team will continue monitoring the macaques to ensure they are doing well in the wild.

The two Sumatran lorises were placed in our newly designed open top habituation cage that provides a proper natural environment exposure before returning to the wild. They were quick to settle in and started exploring the cage and environment very quickly. Both lorises are fitted with a radiocollar that allows for monitoring after being released. This is part of YIARI’s post-release loris monitoring programme - the first ever to be done in Indonesia to make sure that individuals survive and to understand the way lorises live in the wild to help improve the rehabilitation process at the centre. After a few weeks of habituation time in the cage, they will be released and a team will follow them every night to make sure they are well.

All in all, it was a great success with all the released animals looking healthy and active in the wild. Importance is placed on releasing these animals as it brings great benefits such as increasing the long term conservation prospects of these species; it also acts as a good awareness strategy to teach the public not to keep wild animals as pets and promotes good animal welfare by allowing the animal to live in its natural environment. Ironically, buying wild animals out of pity to ‘save’ them from the horrible life in the markets is NOT a solution. This is because one empty cage means a replacement being caught from the wild. YIARI works hard to spread the message that wild animals belong in the wild and should not be kept as pets, no matter what the circumstances.

Education and awareness-raising activities in Indonesia

Volunteer Tine Rattel reports...

Information stand at a local animal market

International Animal Rescue recognises the importance of public education as an integral part of conservation outreach, with the ultimate aim of changing attitudes to conservation, resulting in pro-conservation behaviour.

Part of our education and awareness-raising involves analysing local people’s attitudes, knowledge and values concerning animal welfare and conservation. Our efforts focus on expanding the community’s capacity to improve environmental quality by educating both children and adults. The fundamental aim of our education efforts is that pro-conservation behaviour will be adopted within those communities currently exploiting natural resources, in the form of a reduction of resource extraction to sustainable levels and the elimination of illegal activities such as hunting of endangered wildlife. The central message we disseminate is that people need to protect their environment to ensure that successive generations have a chance for a good future, with the same ecosystem services they rely on. We encourage people of every age within and outside their community to work collectively by addressing their common interests.

The public sign a pledge to not buy a slow loris

Our long-term aim is to balance the inevitable conflict between short-term needs of local people and long-term benefits that conservation programmes can generate. If local people and the government recognise that preserving the environment provides socio-economic benefits, rainforests will survive as functional ecosystems, and the future of their inhabitants will be secured.

Our Education and Awareness Coordinator, Indri Hapsari, is currently focusing on community education aimed at children from ages of 10 up to 18 by giving presentations about biodiversity conservation and animal welfare at schools and our Slow Loris Awareness Campaign Coordinator, Indah Winarti is carrying out awareness activities by having information stands at local markets in the cities and at universities, as well as giving workshops in villages in habitat areas. Both are additionally raising awareness by providing important information and answering questions about the wildlife trade and conservation issues using social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Raising the profile of the plight of the slow loris

Engaging with young people to facilitate their personal, social and educational development and encourage them to become an active member of our awareness activities is a vital part of our work. We believe that educating the future generation at a young age to appreciate and conserve wild species will increase the effectiveness of our programme.

Another important part of our Slow Loris Awareness Campaign is to conduct seminars for governmental authorities to increase the awareness for this low-profile species.

Posters at a local market

There are three species of slow loris in Indonesia and all are threatened with extinction. The Javan slow loris has even been included in the “IUCN Red List of 25 Most Endangered Primates of the World”. Whilst habitat loss was once deemed the major threat to the survival of the slow loris, it has recently been suggested that trade, both for the pet market and traditional medicine, is having the greater impact on population numbers. Despite the national and international laws prohibiting the trade in slow lorises, they are sold openly in animal markets throughout Indonesia. The following-through of law enforcement is essential if current legal protection for Indonesian wildlife is to be effective.

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In spite of her traumatic past, Peni is a happy, healthy, playful girl

Vet Jesus Mayoral provides an encouraging update on Peni, who was rescued from a horrific situation by our team in 2010...

Peni with her mother before her rescue.
Photo: Feri Latief

Peni was brought to IAR’s Centre in Ketapang at the end of October 2010. Despite starvation and the horrendous experience she had been through, she was in reasonably good physical condition when she arrived. IAR’s vets performed every routine test necessary to have a better picture of her physical condition. That was the first step to rehabilitate her, the easy one.

Peni now! Photo: Julie O'Neill

For Peni, and also for all the people involved in her rehabilitation, the most difficult task was to overcome the psycological trauma, but thanks to her strong nature and the company of fellow females Susi, Prima and Helen she did really well from the beginning.

During this year and a half she has been very healthy (just a minor flu last January) and playful. She likes to vocalise and show her emotions in this way. Recently she lost her upper milk incisors, which is the normal process at her age. Dentition is the clue to know the age of babies and children but it is not 100% accurate. Anyway, the loss of these teeth seems to confirm our initial guess. By now she must be around 6 years old, a healthy, strong girl, full of life, who hopefully will be ready before too long to go back to the forest!

Enriching the lives of our primates

Volunteer Tine explains the importance of the enrichment programme to the primates – and the people – at our centre in Ciapus.
 

A schedule is prepared to ensure varied enrichment

To ensure high animal welfare standards at our centre we implemented an enrichment calendar in 2011 which makes sure that enrichment items vary and are given on a daily basis.

Enrichment is every addition to the environment of an animal in captivity that offers it the opportunity to behave naturally and therefore improve its welfare. We use enrichment mainly to stimulate natural behaviour, decrease abnormal behaviour, reduce boredom and to encourage activity. However, in order to conduct group-forming processes it can also be beneficial to manipulate social behaviour. One example is to provide enrichment items to keep dominant animals busy so others have time to relax and groom. If you are planning to introduce two animals to each other it can also be useful to see how the individuals react to new stimuli as a way to find out more about the character and behaviour of the animals.

The animals love a challenge

Another really important part of our work is the education of our animal keepers. We trained our local staff to take down behaviour using an ethogram (chart with behaviours represented by a code). This is usually done by university students and trained primatologists. They also learned how to use the collected data to create tables, graphics and presentations. By doing this, we can have a more objective method on collecting data of our animals at the centre. This is important to record an increase or decrease in abnormal behaviour, to observe if the provided enrichment has the desired effect and to measure the progress of an animal in the resocialisation and rehabilitation process.

Worms are hidden inside balls

Observations are particularly important before and after introductions. Like humans, apes and monkeys have different personalities and not everybody likes each other, so the recorded data show us if we have made a good choice for each individual. The more we understand about our animals individually, the more we can do to help provide them with a better life, particularly during captivity.

Seeds are stuck into melons

Whilst most of our local staff was sceptical about the reasons for enrichment and observations in the beginning, it is very nice to see that there has been a positive change in their attitude over time. As most of them didn’t get a chance to finish school, it makes them very happy to be able to learn how to use programmes like Microsoft Excel, Word and Powerpoint. At IAR, we believe that educating the local people is just as important as saving the animals!

A group of animal keepers is currently busy developing an enrichment catalogue showing how to create the different items we use. As soon as it is ready, it will be shared with other organisations and sanctuaries to encourage an active exchange of experiences.

Lulu the slow loris makes a speedy getaway!

Most of the slow lorises that we care for arrive at our Primate Rehabilitation Centre in Ciapus, Java but vets were on hand recently to care for and release Lulu the slow loris from our Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Ketapang. Vet Silje Robertson tells us more...

Lulu ready for release

Not long ago a man brought a slow loris to our centre. He claimed it had appeared at his house the same day and offered to sell the animal to us. However, after some discussion he surrendered the animal to IAR. We gave her the name Lulu: she is an adult female with all her teeth intact and completely wild.  As she was slightly underweight we decided to delay the release for some days in order to make sure her medical condition was good and stable.

After a few days of recovering at the centre, we released her in the evening in the forest surrounding our new centre in Ketapang. There was nothing slow about her as she jetted out of the transportation cage and hurried up a tree close by! And who knows, maybe we will see her again someday after we make our big move.

As for the new centre, it is coming along in good speed. The foundation for the clinic and the quarantine area has already been started and it is very exciting to see the progress. View the photos on Facebook.

Tulip and Pelangsi arrive, Ceria leaves the quarantine and Sigit and Ujang move to the big baby school

Vet Silje Robertson provides a round up of the latest news from our centre in Ketapang.

Tulip

On Thursday afternoon last week our team set out on another confiscation action; this time in our own town of Ketapang. The owner contacted IAR and the forestry department himself and confessed to keeping a baby orangutan captive. The man claimed to have traded the animal for his gun a month earlier: the men he traded with said they had killed the baby’s mother and were going to kill the baby as well. She was given the name Tulip and was kept on a leash in a cage of about 2m² in their backyard. She was fed only with bananas and sweet biscuits. Tulip is naturally still scared, but is in good health and has a healthy appetite. For now she must settle for playing alone in the baby quarantine area, but as soon as she finishes her quarantine time she can join the others.

The team are working around the clock to save Pelangsi

The next day we received news of an orangutan being trapped in a wild boar snare in a forest area outside Ketapang; apparently for over a week! We rushed to the area and after a half hour trek in the forest we reached the site. We were all relieved to see that the animal, a young male, was still alive, although only barely. His right wrist was caught in the snare: a rope that lies covered under leaves on the ground and tightens and pulls upwards when the wild boar (or in this case the orangutan) steps in the loop. It soon became clear that his right hand could not be saved as what remained of the hand and wrist was only dead, severely infected tissue. We sedated him, freed him from the snare and gave him fluids as he was severely dehydrated before we transported him back to our clinic. He is given the name Pelangsi, after the area in which he was found. His condition is still very critical and he is not yet stable and strong enough to undergo surgery. Our medical team is working around the clock and we hope that Pelangsi will recover as soon as possible.

Ceria

Ceria finished her quarantine period with flying colours last week and is now enjoying the playground in the baby school area. Albeit a bit hesitant in the beginning, now she seems to enjoy the company of her new friends. She has a bit more wild nature than our other babies and is bringing more speed in the game by climbing high and fast!

Sigit and Ujang were moved from the baby school to the back transit area with the older babies. This means going from an environment where you are the biggest and toughest to being the smallest! Sigit is adapting very well, but Ujang is not leaving Sigit’s side (or foot) and needs a bit more time to feel confident in the new area.