Our volunteers in July 09 were set the task of re-building one of our enclosures, making it fit for young orangutan. Volunteers of the past 18 months will know the area as the binturong enclosure, opposite the orangutan night dens. The climbing platform was designed by our orangutan keeper, Hilary, and both he and the volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure its completion within their month here. The structure was completed, roped, and a new pond added to the exhibit, initially for the volunteers pleasure but intended in the long run for the orangutans.




For now, this enclosure is intended for Ali.



Presently, he spends most of his days in the jungle with his designated keeper. However, on the odd occasion that he remains at the centre, it was thought best that he have an area that was enriching and designed to facilitate climbing practice. Ali is a very competent climber and has shown little affection for people, two great attributes in terms of potential rehabilitation success.





He is yet to spend a night out as he is quite young (around 2 years of age) and still requires night time care and the occasional feed. It is hoped that he will learn nest building and foraging skills, initially from Chiam and later, from Ghanti and George when they join the orangutan already released.

Our thanks go out to the hard work put in by our July volunteers. The addition of this enclosure to Matang is another small step as we work to bring the centre up to a standard of excellence. It is a fantastic area, presently for Ali, but will stand for many years as a training area for young orangutan. In a few months, we will join Simanggang with Ali in this area to see how well he copes with ropes and climbing structures - and of course another orangutan! We will update you on this event as soon as it happens.

Labels: baby orangutan, matang, orangutan, orangutan volunteer

The youngest of Matang's new arrivals, Simanggang, is developing very well. Presently, he spends most of his days in the vet clinic, with Juan's wife, Sangang, as his primary carer. We are being careful to keep the number of humans around him down to a minimum to reduce the risk of him picking up any of our diseases, which could be fatal for him.



Since arriving at Matang, Simanggang has required 24 hour care, which has meant the vet clinic has become a (less than comfortable!) home for some members of staff. He is, by all accounts, extremely healthy and has doubled in weight in the short time he has been here. His strength is quite remarkable for one so small - it is apparent that almost from birth, orangutan are superbly developed for a life of climbing and arboreal living.



Occasionally, this young orangutan has been taken to the trees to see how he may fare in the branches. This was partly inspired by watching Chiam and Ghanti's boys, who look to be similar in age. They are at a stage where the mums are giving them a small amount of independence to climb, around a cage or in Chiam's case, in the trees. There seems no better role model for guidance on baby orangutan than these two. Follow this link to see a short video of Simanggang's efforts in a tree.

Click here for the video





In a few months, Simanggang will join Ali and Ting San on their daily excursions to the jungle for more routinised training. For now though, until he is older, he remains at the vet clinic to continue to gain weight and strength.

Labels: baby orangutan, borneo orangutan, matang, Orangutans and Rehabilitation

After spending 3 months in quarantine, Katherine (estimated to be around 16 years of age) and Peter (perhaps as old as 25) were transferred into the orangutan dens. The move itself went incredibly smoothly, both orangutan had to be sedated to be moved, and although neither of them are keen on the blowpipe being pointed at them, the move was as stress-free as possible for humans and animals alike.



Peter's current location means he is often in view of George, one of the dominant males at Matang. Though they have seen each other before, this is the first time they have been in close proximity, and neither of them are very happy with the presence of the other. Wisely, when separated by just the bars of a cage, Peter keeps well clear of George, though he was recently seen being quite bold and pulling George's hair! Follow the link for a short video of Peter vocalising at George; this appears to be part aggression and part fear.



Though it is not clear from the video, Peter is very different in appearance to both Aman and George, though it is suspected he is older. This is because Peter is not yet a dominant male, therefore has not developed the prominent secondary sexual characteristics of such. Peter was malnourished on arrival, with no small amount of digestive worms, and it is thought that these factors inhibited his development into a dominant male. With the worms cleared and his nutrition vastly improved, we are waiting to see if he will now grow the characteristic flanges and throat pouch to mark his dominance, or whether this development will be inhibited by the presence of George. These changes are hormonally controlled, and the presence of another dominant male can delay or halt entirely another male's development.



After a couple of days alone to settle in, Katherine was mixed in the large outdoor enclosure with Doris and Ting San. Ting San spends most of her days in the jungle, so Katherine has spent the majority of her time with just Doris for company. Here is a link to a short video of one of their first interactions - Doris did not take kindly to her new housemate, and was witnessed on numerous occasions throwing various objects at Katherine, or hitting her and then bidding a hasty retreat.

Katherine has been completely un-phased by this unfriendly greeting. She has enjoyed herself exploring the new enclosure and has enjoyed interacting with Doris, seemingly unaware that her presence is resented. Doris was initially a little afraid of Katherine and has been forced to give up enrichment on occasion, which is a great change as she has for a long time had her own way entirely over Ting San.

These two orangutan now seem at peace with each other and both seem to like each others company. They still fight over enrichment, but competition can be healthy!



Katherine already has a good relationship with the orangutan keepers here at Matang. She is a very friendly orangutan and seems relatively easy to handle. The keepers are determined to include Katherine in the rehabilitation process and see no reason why she should spend the rest of her life in captivity. We will of course keep you updated on her progress, and her first jungle experience as and when it happens.

Labels: aman, orangutan, orangutan rescue, orangutan volunteer, Orangutans and Rehabilitation, sarawak orangutan volunteer

On Thursday, September 17th, Ghanti was released from her captive life at Matang. Keepers here had been awaiting Chiam's presence at the centre, so that Ghanti would have a confident orangutan to follow, and to convince her that life is better off in the trees. On the above date, Chiam did indeed return to the centre - she was seen climbing on the tower cage at the front of the orangutan dens and her and Peter were showing great interest in each other. Aman and George were furious, Aman climbing to the top of his platform in the enclosure and shaking it backwards and forth. Perhaps they did not enjoy a female's attentions being given to a sub adult male. The photo below was taken by a volunteer - it is Aman looking down upon Chiam hanging on the side of Peter's cage.



Hilary took this opportunity to open Ghanti's cage and see if she would join Chiam. Burst out through the front doors into freedom she did not, instead sat looking at the open door, and at Hilary, from the comfort of her sack for about twenty minutes. However, when it became clear we were not teasing and this was really the option available, Ghanti did indeed stroll out the front door and made off into the tree line behind Aman's enclosure, with Chiam following quickly after.

The release of orangutan from the centre is certainly bitter sweet. With both Chiam and Ghanti, it was an educational privilege to see, close up, how orangutan mothers deal with the early months after birth, and watch how the relationship and bond between mother and infant begin to develop. Seeing the youngsters mature and gain both in size and confidence has also been wonderful, but always at the back of the mind was the regret that their first learning experiences were of navigating bars rather than trees. It is with gratifying joy that we can now think of these young orangutan learning skills to equip them for a life in the rainforest.

We will keep you posted on Chiam and Ghanti's progression in their new life in Kubah National Park.

Labels: aman, chiam, Ghanti, matang, orangutan, orangutan baby, orangutan mother, orangutan release

Matang has one less resident after we felt the effects of being situated within the rainforests of Borneo. A 13 foot reticulated python found its way into the pigtail macaque enclosure on the animal trail and found within a rather tempting meal. It's very likely that this snake, a protected species, is one of the very animals that Matang Wildlife Centre had released into the national park before.



It seemed strange that the python was able to catch the monkey, as if the monkey had stayed at the top of its cage it would not have been in reach. However, the python was presenting lacerations to its back, suggesting that the monkey attacked the snake and unfortunately then found itself in range of the snake's jaws. The python was discovered during morning husbandry - a keeper went to feed the macaque, and instead found a rather large snake in the cage. Thin enough to enter the cage initially, after consuming the monkey the python found itself too large to fit back through the bars and became captive as a consequence.



Keepers here were able to catch the snake with little problem. Its energies were obviously mostly devoted to digesting the huge meal. The python was relocated to an adjacent forested area and released. While it was obviously a shame for the monkey, it was a great opportunity to see nature in action, and a stark reminder that we do indeed work in a jungle!

Labels: husbandry, jungle, kubah national park, matang, matang wildlife centre, python, sarawak

During the first three weeks that Chiam was out in the national park, keepers only saw her once as she came to investigate Ting San's rehabilitation training. Though they continued to call for her and place food at feeding platforms twice a day, it seems Chiam was enjoying herself too much to be concerned with coming back when called for easy food. Indeed, during her first 4 hours out, Chiam built 4 nests, which is certainly in excess of what's required! Orangutan will always build a nest for sleeping, and will commonly make one day nest to take a rest from foraging, but four in one afternoon is certainly not seen. It seemed Chiam was simply feeling the joy of the trees once again. However, recently Chiam returned to the feeding platform recently built on the trail to the ranger station.



She came down in response to keepers calling for her, as they have been doing each day twice daily. The aim of this was to let Chiam know that there would always be someone in the jungle to feed her, should she require extra food. This has obviously worked, Chiam had known where the keepers were going to be at what time and responded to their call.



Both her and the baby appear to be in great health and obviously enjoying their time in the trees. It is wonderful to know how much Chiam's son will now be learning about his natural environment, and we can only imagine how fast he will pick up natural survival skills such as nest building and foraging with Chiam as his teacher.



We hope that this will be the first of many occasions that Chiam returns to our feeding platforms for food.

Labels: feeding platform, great orangutan project, matang wildlife centre, orangutan, orangutan baby, orangutan mother, orangutan release

After the first few weeks when Chiam relished the novelty of the jungle and kept to herself, she has since been coming back to the feeding platform when called regularly. July volunteers were able to join the keepers, one at a time, on the twice daily excursions to the jungle to call and leave food for Chiam. About 70% of occasions saw Chiam returning for food, so the volunteers were lucky indeed.


During one afternoon, we witnessed a first for Matang for a number of years when four orangutan gathered at the feeding platform. Have a look at the photo below and see if you can spot who is who:



All the orangutan present were greatly enjoying the treetops, which made clear photography a challenging task. Check the picture below for more of a clue.




It was certainly a special sight to behold. Chiam was very interested in Ting San, who was initially wary of Chiam but soon gained confidence and would stay in the same vicinity as her, equally curious. Chiam was also allowing her baby to explore the trees on his own, and it was quite incredible to see him practicing the art of climbing in the trees, as previously we had just seen him do this in a cage. Though it was wonderful to be able to observe Chiam's baby close up in captivity, it simply does not compare to watching him practice his natural behaviour in his natural environment. Ali seemed oblivious to the larger apes; he was immensely pleased with the small tree he had found, and spent most of the afternoon swinging it backwards and forwards.



From this day on, keepers have intentionally been bringing both Ali and Ting San to Chiam's location, when she is present. The two youngsters will learn much more from her, a fully competent semi-wild orangutan, than they will their human keepers. It makes our job of rehabilitation a lot easier - we now have an incredibly qualified teacher who, if willing, can continue jungle training with our juveniles.

Labels: chiam, jungle training, matang, orangutan, orangutan baby, orangutan release, orangutan volunteer

Chiam has long been a favourite of volunteers and keepers alike at Matang. She is a highly intelligent orangutan, and has fascinated many on onlooker with her swift and accurate construction of tools out of mere scraps of rope and left over food items. Chiam's presence at the centre was bitter sweet - it was a joy to observe her and a privilege to get to know her, but she has long been ready for life in the jungle.

Part of the centre's captive breeding program; Chiam gave birth to George's son in February 09. Her infant developed quickly, and Chiam's stress-free approach to motherhood quickly fostered an ambitious and independent son. At just two months of age he was already exploring his cage in absense of his mother and flexing his young climbing muscles on the bars.

In May 09, the decision was made to release Chiam. Her infant had developed extremely well and it was more than clear that Chiam is a competent mother. At the begining of June, Chiam was released into Kubah.

Though it had been hoped to release Chiam, George and Ghanti together, it made good sense to release Chiam earlier. With Mamu being in the rainforest, it is a good step to have a competent adult join her in the environment, so should Mamu have any difficulty in food location or nest building, Chiam can watch over her and offer assistance. Though Ghanti herself would not struggle in the jungle, she is being kept at Matang for the near future so that staff here may keep a closer eye on her infant and ensure its healthy development. He is currently developing well, but Ghanti does not have the carefree confidence in motherhood that Chiam displayed, not surprising since for Chiam, she had done it all before.

As a dominant male, George would not be safe to be released too close to the centre. Therefore, we will still build a release site for him futher into Kubah, which is the task of July 09 volunteers. Over the next few months, keepers will slowly move Chiam through the jungle to this new site, so when it is time to release George and Ghanti, Chiam will be centred on this area also. This will then become the primary feeding area for the 3 adult orangutan, plus the two babies.

Our immense gratitude goes out to all volunteers, past, present and future. For many of those past, you worked tirelessly at the centre and dedicated your money to it for the future when the orangutan you got to know so well would be in a position to be released. Many of you never saw an orangutan in the jungle at Matang, and indeed it has taken many years for us to begin to realise the release plans. Whether you were building a feeding platform for the orangutan, or building a deer enclosure at the centre, it is all of these efforts combined that have brought Matang up to a standard where release of orangutan is not just feasible, but is now happening. We cannot thank you enough and hope that when we collect the first few photos of Chiam in the jungle with her baby you will all consider it your success as well

Labels: borneo orangutan, chiam, jungle, kubah national park, mamu, matang, rainforest