Latest Release at Sepilok
In spring 2008 5 of the young orangutans which had been living in the nursery at Sepilok were ready to be released into the Kabili forest which surrounds the centre. Each orangutan had a very different history.
Projects
New Exercise Enclosure for Sepilok
Over the last six months the Appeal has been invloved in funding many projects for Sepilok. We have again sponsored the vet and vet nurse for another year at the centre, provided new veterinary equipment, carried out extensive repairs to the night nursery and purchased a new washing machine. We have maintained the 4 wheel drive Land Rover and provided the centre with Broadband internet access to improve communications. But best of all we have replaced the exercise enclosure which was our very first project in 2001. Over the years the metal had corroded and so this time we have provided it in stainless steel - costly at £15,000, but it should last a long time!
Naru Makes it In the Wild - Update on Naru, Rosalinda and Anekara
It has been 8 months since Naru, Rosalinda and Anekara took their final steps along the rehabilitation program at Sepilok, and were released into the rainforest reserve surrounding the centre. In this time all three have made great progress and have continued to expand their skills by watching and learning from the older orangutans already living independently in the reserve.
Orangutan Appeal joins forces with COP and BOS to Rescue Orangutans
In February 2008 the Forestry department on the North coast of West Kalimantan confiscated a baby orangutan. Two months later they received another rescue baby. These two babies have been waiting in a transit camp in a town called Pontianak for help to transfer them to a Rehabilitation Centre where they would have the chance of being reintroduced to the wild.
Captives in West Kalimantan
COP NEWS MARCH 2008
(Centre for Orangutan Protection - Kalimantan, Indonesia)
h3. Panjar Aji Recreation Park
In March this year our Trustee – Veterinarian Dr Roger Coley – joined COP’s investigation team for a week to see first hand the problems they are faced with.
Post Release Monitoring Research - an update from Tabin
The Appeal is now in the second year of the Post Release Monitoring project in Tabin, a protected forest reserve in the south of Sabah. We initially ran trials of this research in the Kabili reserve which surrounds Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) and progressed to Tabin in August 2006 along with four young rehabilitated orangutans – Tompong, Suzanna, Brock and Toby who are our focal point.
Over the years SRC have released hundreds of orangutans back into the wild but no one has ever known how well these individuals cope with life, or if the rehabilitation programme has equipped them well enough to survive and breed in the wild. This research, which is being conducted in conjunction with the Sabah Wildlife Department, is aimed at finding out exactly this and if there are any areas of the rehabilitation process that need to be changed or improved. An initial report has been compiled by Roehampton University from the data collected by our research assistants and is showing encouraging results.
Naru Taste of Freedom
In August 2007 we received notification that three juveniles were ready to be released into the Kabili forest reserve which surrounds the Sepilok Centre. The previous release at Sepilok in March 2006 had encountered difficulties so it was felt that it would be advantageous to set up a tracking team to keep an eye on these youngsters until they were established in the reserve. Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) gave authority for the Project to go ahead and Jon Levell, who has worked for the Forestry Commission in Wales for many years, was assigned by the Appeal to act as Team Leader.
Orangutan Appeal UK funds world first
Orangutan Appeal UK has made history by funding the world’s first cataract operation on a mature male orangutan.
Aman, a 19 year old dominant male orangutan, became the centre of attention when he underwent a bilateral cataract surgery in Sarawak, Borneo. This type of operation has never been performed on an orangutan before making it a world first! Orangutan Appeal UK working in partnership with the conservation organisation the Great Orangutan Project, a coalition of local initiatives, funded all of the costs of the operation, to the tune of £2700, and Dr Venter, the operating ophthalmologist, and Dr Frik Stegmann, the anaesthetist, generously donated their services - making this amazing feat possible.
Tabin Research Update
The plight of the Orangutan is currently high priority worldwide and is at the centre of conservation efforts which are being made to stop deforestation and ease its effects on global worming. Top ecologists predict that the orangutan will be extinct in the wild within 10 - 12 years if drastic measures are not taken now to save this great ape and its habitat.
Research project update - the Tabin project
Phase 2 of the post monitoring release project started in March this year with a new group of recently released juvenile orangutans. The aim of the research is to find out how well the rehabilitation process works and if it provides the rehabilitated orangutans with the skills necessary to live wild in the forest and if we need to make any adjustments
These individuals do not know the Kabili reserve, the forest which surrounds Sepilok, and everything is new to them. Those who cope well with their release are destined to spend their lives in the remote and unspoilt reserve of Tabin, which is twice the size of Singapore and far from human habitation – in fact just perfect and will give us great insight into the ability of our rehabilitated orangutans
