MARJO’S NEW HOME IN KEHJE SEWEN

Once the male orangutan was successfully sedated and carried by safety net to the nearby transport cage, drh. Riani from the Nyaru Menteng Medical team checked his condition.

Whilst our technicians, Tony and Dedi, were busy preparing fruit and bedding in the transport cage drh. Riani concluded that the male orangutan was healthy, approximately 15 years old and weighed 50 kg. Drh. Riani went on to explain the orangutan Rescue & Release operation within an oil palm plantation area belonging to PT. Yudha Wahana Abadi (YWA), Berau, East Kalimantan, on May 19, 2013.

What is Rescue & Release?

Rescue & Release, often referred to as translocation, is a process in which wild orangutans are rescued from an area where there is conflict or the potential for imminent conflict between humans and orangutans. In these cases the orangutans have already reached an age of independence (and are able to survive in the forest alone) and are healthy, so as it is possible to immediately move and release them into a suitable, safe area of forest. If the rescued orangutan is an orphaned baby or young individual, the orangutan is unable to be released directly into the wild, instead he or she will need to undergo the rehabilitation process to gain the skills needed to survive in the forest – a learning process which would normally be passed on by the infants mother.

Rescue & Release can’t be applied to ex-captive orangutans either (those who were confiscated from captivity within a community for example). These orangutans are no longer “wild” since they are accustomed to humans, hence they also need to go through the rehabilitation process to regain their abilities as wild orangutans.

The Responsibility of Private Sector

This Recue & Release operation took place between May 13 and May 22, and was a cooperation between the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation, PT. YWA and the East Kalimantan Natural Resources and Conservation Agency. Within the BOS Foundation team, this operation involved a cross-program team, consisting of personnel from Headquarters, staff from both of our Orangutan Reintroduction Centre’s at Nyaru Menteng and Samboja Lestari, and our Restorasi Habitat Orangutan (RHO) program. The team was also accompanied by a team from PT. YWA.

Following information from the initial survey completed by the BOS Foundation two months earlier together with orangutan sighting reports by PT. YWA team, the joint team commenced activities on the May 15 by systematically searching the areas –block by block- which were reportedly inhabited by orangutans.

In compliance with Best Management Practices (BMP), PT. YWA have allocated 10 percent of their concession to conservation areas, totalling around 8000 hectares. However this doesn’t form a single stretch of forest, and instead is fragmented into small patches along the Mayong River, the main river traversing the plantation. These fragmented, narrow patches of forests have forced the orangutans to forage for food either within the plantation itself or within villagers’ fields, especially during times of the year when their natural food sources are scarce. This situation led to PT. YWA contacting the BOS Foundation to carry out assessments and gauge the need for a potential Rescue & Release operation.

“Orangutan translocation is our last resort. We have set aside forested areas for the conservation of orangutans and other wildlife species. But since the areas arefragmented instead of forming one continuous stretch of a forest, eventually the orangutans are forced to find food beyond their forest. This, of course, will manifest in likely conflict between humans and orangutans,” Supriyadi, Administrator of PT. YWA explained.

An orangutan has a high mobility range, up to 20 km/day. They need extensive forest areas with large mature trees. The forest also needs to be lowland (less than 900 meters above sea level) which contains a variety of foods to support the orangutans.

The Search which Lasted for Days

For two days in a row, the team combed the blocks along the Mayong River without any results. The orangutan sleeping nests they found were mostly old. Some newer nests were 2-3 days old. There were neither new broken branches, which would indicate the trail an orangutan had recently travelled along, nor other signs such as food remains. No signs at all. Nothing.

On the third day, when the team was preparing to break for lunch, two staff from PT. YWA from Block C arrived bringing hurried information that a male orangutan was seen in their area, and his movements were being monitored by some of their staff. The break was cancelled and the team immediately went to Block C. However, by the time the team arrived, unfortunately, the orangutan had already left.

The next day saw similar results. There was no orangutan in sight. The fifth day was Sunday. The BOS Foundation formed a smaller survey team since it was a day off for most of the PT. YWA team members. The BOS Foundation team was accompanied by Rahadian Yudha Wibawa, Head of Plantation PT. YWA, and Sunarto, driver from PT. YWA.

Sunday turned out to be their lucky day! While surveying Block K2, Eko Prasetyo (Tyo), the BOSF Rescue Coordinator, spotted an adult male orangutan. The orangutan was seen observing the oil palm plantation before him, as if he was contemplating a strategy to search for food. According to some of the plantation workers, orangutans often came and fed on young oil palm trees.

With an impressive agility, Dedi from Nyaru Menteng, who is specifically trained in operating the tranquiliser gun , successfully sedated the orangutan, while the rest of the team including a vet were observing on high alert. As is common with wild orangutans, this individual was obviously annoyed by our presence and it took some time for him to finally fall asleep. However, once asleep he dropped from the tree safely into the net below which had been carefully positioned by the team. Our team have been on hundreds of rescue missions and are experts in this process.

Immediately after his successful sedation he was moved to the nearby transport cage. Vet drh. Riani checked his condition, took a blood sample, and implanted an identification chip. Thankfully, he was healthy and ready to be translocated to his new home.

Marjo’s New Home

PT. YWA named this wild male orangutan Marjo, after an Assistant of the Person in Charge in Block K where Marjo was found. At dawn on the May 21st, the team transported Marjo to Kehje Sewen, the forest managed by PT. Restorasi Habitat Orangutan Indonesia (RHOI) as ecosystem restoration area and orangutan release site.

Marjo was clearly not used to being in such close proximity to people and generally displeased with our presence, however he calmed down as they reached the forest. It was as if he knew that the people around him had nothing but good intentions. KJ7 is a perfect new home for him; distinctly different from the small patch of forest in the middle of the plantation he used to live in. When Tyo opened his transport cage, Marjo climbed a small tree right in front of him without hesitation, before swinging in to a bigger tree using a liana.

At the top of the canopy, he stopped and looked down unexpectedly. The Rescue & Release team was still down there, looking up and watching his every move. Marjo stared back at the team. Was he saying thank you? Or maybe bidding his good-bye? Because he then soon vanished through the lush canopy.

Good bye, Marjo! Enjoy the forest!

The Challenge Ahead

A Rescue & Release operation is not without consequences. “Releasing wild orangutans in Kehje Sewen forest decreases the area which was originally secured for the purpose of releasing rehabilitant orangutans currently cared for by the BOS Foundation. The BOS Foundation and RHOI is still in need of new forests where the rehabilitant orangutans who are currently waiting within the BOSF rehabilitation centers can be released immediately,” said Tyo.

Asides from the big challenges ahead of us, this Rescue & Release operation has shown the feasibility of developing collaborative approaches to meet conservation goals. We hope the remaining forest will be preserved, and more private businesses come forward to support orangutan conservation by maintaining high conservation value forest in their consession areas. Real actions such as this will save Marjo and his friends from extinction. And for Marjo, welcome to your new home!