IN SEARCH OF THE ORANGUTANS (1)

While the BOS Foundation actively searches for new release areas and points within Kehje Sewen forest, the PRM (Post Release Monitoring) team remains consistent in the monitoring and tracking of previously-released orangutans. Recently, the PRM team launched a radio-tracking expedition to locate five orangutans - Leo, Juminten, Titin, Abbie and Inge –, the first three of which had largely gone unmonitored. There are a number of reasons why we have not been able to pick up their individual signals.  These orangutans may have travelled far away or equally their radio transmitters may have failed.

Before sunrise we prepared logistics for our six-day trip. We began tracking along the route to the 115-kilometre mark, crossing a river to get there. Luckily, the current was not strong on this occasion.

After a five-hour hike, we arrived at the 115-kilometre mark and set up camp for the night. We were unable to pick up radio signals for the orangutans on that first day.

The following day, we again started our patrol early and headed to the ridge in the hope of picking up signals from Leo, Juminten or Titin. Our receivers were still unable to pick up signals from any of the three along the ridge.

On the third day of the expedition we found two old nests in one tree, the remains of partially consumed fruits estimated to be four to five days old, and the remnants of one to two-days-old sprouts. These were certainly exciting findings, yet we still had to determine which orangutans were ranging in the area.  So we continued to search  for telemetry signals.

By the sixth day we were still unable to detect signals from the aforementioned orangutans. Our crew was hit with heavy rainfall that became increasingly severe as the day wore on. We were forced to return to camp for safety reasons; to avoid the possibility of the river overflowing.

While we couldn’t locate the five orangutans, the discovery of the nests and food remnants leads us to believe that there is evidence they are living an active life in the Kehje Sewen forest.

We plan to return another day and continue our search!