ARE ORANGUTANS EMPATHETIC?
It was a usual day at the Nyaru Menteng forest school, where young orangutans were learning from one another while their human surrogate mothers looked on from below.
Finally!
Casey, Lesan and Mail were departed to Kehje Sewen forest, at 12.40 pm. After the ceremony attended by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affair, the Minister of Forestry and the Minister of Environment, the three orangutan were loaded onto the helicopter and ready to fly back to their ‘home’.
The helicopter carrying Casey, Lesan and Mail flew over at Camp 103 at 1:50 PM, right on schedule. However, it was welcomed by heavy rain and strong wind. The helicopter from the Indonesian Air Force circled the area for a while. We started to worry, thinking it wouldn’t land in this weather. But at exactly 2 PM, it hovered over the helipad and landed safely at Camp 103, Kehje Sewen Forest.
Camp 103, Kehje Sewen Forest, April 22, 2012, 2.00 p.m
Casey, Lesan and Mail are almost home. But for tonight, they will have to stay at Camp 103 with us. In order to bring them to their acclimatization cages in Mount Belah – our orangutan conservation area – we have to cross a river, which is raging with strong currents and high water levels carrying mud from upriver. It’s impossible to cross. We will have to wait until morning comes. Casey, Lesan and Mail are healthy, though. And they are being checked and fed and looked after by our team every hour or so. Hopefully, Mother Earth will be friendly tomorrow. Happy Earth Day from Casey, Lesan, Mail and all of us here in Kehje Sewen Forest!
We’ll update you again tomorrow.
It was a usual day at the Nyaru Menteng forest school, where young orangutans were learning from one another while their human surrogate mothers looked on from below.
Our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) team at Camp Himba Pambelum in Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR), Central Kalimantan, encountered Suci, a young female orangutan, three times back in 2023.
Kopral has been receiving treatment at the clinic since April 2023 due to wounds on the sole of his right foot and fungus between his toes.
