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From the Diary of an Orangutan Conservationist

Michelle Desilets, director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK, has spent the last 12 years determined to halt the extinction of one of our closest cousins: the Orangutan.

She has traveled extensively throughout all the continents bar Antarctica (which remains a dream destination), and has experienced the highs and lows that such experiences can offer a person. Her first encounter with wild gorillas in Rwanda in 1992 was the ultimate experience for a lifetime lover of primates, and she was determined to see the orangutans in Asia. Two years later, she was face to face with an orangutan that would change her life. She had gone to see the wild orangutans in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and as thrilling as this was (no less than tracking gorillas), she was haunted by the face of an orphaned baby orangutan named Somalia. Somalia lived in a simple cage at the rear of the rangers’ hut, his eyes hollow and his body hunched from near starvation. With little hair on his body, he would shiver as night fell and Michelle went back to her lodgings. There she would lay, wide-eyed and sick with worry over the little creature, and disturbed further by thoughts of other orphaned orangutans in desperate situations.

When Michelle returned to her home, she could not get Somalia out of her mind. So she sought permission from the organization working in that area to return and care for Somalia. At Christmas, she returned to Borneo, and by now Somalia’s condition had so worsened that he required 24 hour care. For a month, the amount of time she was able to get away from work as a teacher, Michelle provided this care. Somalia was joined with other orphans: Jeffrey, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, Daiga and Samantha. The five of them slept in a single bed in an airless room, one orangutan clinging to each of Michelle’s four limbs. They spent their days in the forest learning to climb and regaining trust and confidence. And Somalia slowly, but surely, improved.

Michelle has now traveled to Indonesia several dozen times, and five orphaned orangutans has grown to several hundred. Seeing a need for a rescue centre and sanctuary near the capital of Central Kalimantan, she approached Dr Willie Smits, known for his outstanding rescue and rehabilitation work in Eastern Kalimantan. With the support of Dr Smits and the Gibbon Foundation, the new rescue centre, Nyaru Menteng, opened its doors in 1999 to just over a dozen orphans. Today the centre cares for more than 400 orangutans and has released hundreds more back to the wild.

In the UK, Michelle directs the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK, which not only raises funds to run the projects in Borneo, but is at the forefront of campaigns to stop the clear-felling of orangutan habitat for the cultivation of oil palm, and to stem the illegal trade of orangutans.

On her recent visit to Nyaru Menteng, Michelle kept an e-journal for her supporters.

February 15, 2006 “As I write from the office of the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), a 2-week-old orangutan sleeps in my arms. Satria, a male, was confiscated and delivered this morning, making the 8th orangutan to arrive in less than 24 hours.

Since my arrival at the project at the start of this month, 16 orangutans have turned up. Most are victims of the conversion of orangutan habitat into oil palm. Starving adults, including mothers with infants, left with no other choice, venture into the plantations where they become easy targets. Few arrive without serious injuries. One orangutan has had her arm smashed and has lost her sight in one eye from blows to the head. Another, a mother, suffered deep gashes on her arms and legs, right to the bone, whilst her son has a broken arm. Gilang, an orphan whose name means “sparkling or glittering” has the tips of a finger or toe from each hand and foot cut off, as if received as a punishment. Rebecca, a very sick little orphan, was voluntarily turned in, on the brink of death. She is probably 1 ½ years old, but weighs no more than an orangutan of six months of age. A confiscated infant named Don King (testimony to his outrageous hairstyle) has spent so long locked up in a tiny wooden box that he cannot walk, stand up or even sit up. He drags himself along the floor, but has difficulty keeping his head up, so it invariably bangs on the floor.

I wish I had better news to tell you, but the situation is horrendous. Add to this the many orangutans suffering from malaria, and two on IV, and you understand why this is a 24/7 job for people like Lone Droscher Nielsen, manager of the project, and Karmele Llano, the vet. Orangutans arrive at all hours, day or night, and rescue teams are being sent out the moment a call is received.

The rescue team, just back this morning with six wild orangutans including two infants, reported a 30-kilometer stretch of oil palm plantation chock full of orangutans in immediate need of rescue. It begs the question, how is it that a country that has signed the Kinshasa Declaration (to take the steps necessary to prevent the extinction of great apes) continues to allow this to happen and continues to grant concessions in forest areas with high levels of biodiversity, as are evidenced by the existence of a flagship species such as the orangutan? Why is it that the Indonesian government is still considering converting a 1.8 million hectare stretch of forest along the Malaysian border into oil palm, whilst 25 million hectares of degraded land remain ready for cultivation?

Our facility is beyond capacity. Originally designed for 100 orangutans, it now houses well over 400. We scramble to survey areas to check suitability for release sites, but these areas are becoming few and far between. We wait for news whether an application to the government to secure an area for release in the remote northern region of Central Kalimantan will be granted. And meanwhile, orangutans who have spent their lives in the wild are confined to cages, waiting for “permission” to be released. Dozens of orangutans, who have quite successfully gone through the intensive training programme we provide for ex-captive orangutans, wait at the penultimate stage of the process, on river islands. They are ready to return to a life in the wild. We could then move more “trainees” onto the island, freeing up space in quarantine and socialization cages as well as in the baby school and midway houses.

I fear the day will come soon when we will receive a call to rescue an orangutan, and we have to refuse because we have no more space. The matter is made even more urgent by the revelation during a recent environmental impact assessment of a nearby area slated for oil conversion by the Pt Makin Group, that the area has the highest density of orangutans ever reported, anywhere, with an estimated 1600-2000 orangutans at immediate risk. We have no hope of rescuing them all---the concession must be halted. The international community must publicly condemn the conversion of the last remaining habitat of the orangutan.

Please, won’t you add your voice to help those that have no voice—the orangutans?”

1 March 2006
“I have now returned from Borneo, and would like to take this opportunity to update you further.

In the just over 3 weeks that I was at the project, 23 rescues took place, and one of the rescue teams was out again on the day I left. In the early hours of the morning on which I departed, the first rescue team returned with a baby girl orangutan, just a few weeks old. We named her Tequila, hoping that it would instill a fiery spirit in her. There had been other youngsters during my time there, as well as mother with babies, and juvenile males. All but two were rescued from the palm oil plantations. (Of the two, one was a voluntary hand-over and one a confiscation). Our team reported seeing dozens more orangutans on the edge of the forest where it met the 30 kilometer stretch of palm oil plantation in which they were rescuing. In the days and weeks to come, these, too, will need to be rescued—otherwise they face almost certain death if they venture into the plantation in search of food.

Our facility, as previously mentioned, is beyond capacity. The wild orangutans that we are rescuing must now remain in our care until a new and safe release site can be secured. Ex-captive orangutans, ready for release into the wild, also must wait for the decisions of the Indonesian authorities as to whether we can release in the remote northern regions of Central Kalimantan. Meanwhile, throughout the region, orangutans’ forests are being decimated for the conversion to oil palm. The result: more and more victims, and less and less space to put the survivors.

Unless we can secure this release site very soon, and unless we can afford to put up some more temporary cages to hold the wild orangutans until that time, we will soon be faced with the devastating situation of having to turn away orangutans in need. BOS UK hopes to find the funds quickly to put up a large socialization cage for wild baby orangutans who have already gone through quarantine, which would open up more quarantine cages for incoming orangutans. But this, in itself, is not a solution---it is only a temporary measure. The international community must insist that the Indonesian government approve secure release sites for displaced and rehabilitated orangutans, and we also must demand that no further conversion of orangutan habitat take place. (There are 25 million hectares of already degraded land suitable for oil palm cultivation).

In the 12 years that I have been working in orangutan conservation, one would think that I would toughen to the things which I witness. But that doesn’t happen. Especially when the situation becomes more and more desperate and you feel like you are fighting a losing battle. Lone, the project manager, said to me on the day I left that she often felt like “no one out there cares.” I know that there are people who care, but experiencing the sorrows and disappointments every day takes its toll on a person. It all came home to me when a bandage was removed from the arm of a wild orangutan baby that had been rescued. One of the bones was protruding from the skin at a horrifying angle, and the wrist and hand were almost completely atrophied. It is likely that it will require amputation. And this was the result of humans who beat him when he and his starving mother went in search of food in the plantations. Few of us could hold back the tears or mask our anger.

On the flight home, I was offered a packet of crisps produced by a well-known Western manufacturer. And needless to say, the crisps were fried in palm oil. What price a bag of crisps? Inner rage ensued as I tried to understand why manufacturers and retailers who use palm oil do not consider the environmental damage of unsustainable palm oil to be an issue.

Some news on a few of the orangutans mentioned in the last update: Satria, the tiny baby, is doing wonderfully. He is not at all timid and enjoys the attention of all the babysitters. He is remarkably coordinated, especially for a boy orangutan, as the boys seem to take longer to become so. It appears that Don King has some damage to one of his arms and one of his legs; they have very limited movement. Gilang has cleared quarantine and has joined his new friends in baby school. He is very outgoing and settled in immediately. He is also an incredible climber. I babysat him a few days in his quarantine period, and he enjoyed climbing the trees and making nests. Mama Maok, the orangutan with the deep gashes, is all healed up. She eats and drinks well, and “talks” to me when I approach with a treat. Leli, the orangutan with the crushed arm is still struggling. Her hand has swelled grotesquely, and the skin on her hand and wrist is coming away in strips. She can only move her arm by picking it up with her other hand. Still, she is in good spirits and sits up to greet me when I come along with her high calcium drinks throughout the day. She absolutely adores air-popped popcorn.

We had an orangutan, Dian, who we released on Bangamat Island in December, go missing for several days. We had as many as 20 staff searching the island for her daily, without success. On the 6th day, she was spotted high in a nest and almost lifeless. One of the men climbed the tree and was able to bring her down. Back at the centre, we found that she had malaria, and it was likely she had not fed for days. A few days later, and she was still listless, although tests revealed the malaria had gone. She stopped eating and drinking and was put onto IV. Further blood tests were inconclusive, but still she did not improve. Karmele, the vet, and I spent hours on the Internet, soliciting the help of international vets and specialists to try to advise us on both Dian and Leli, as they were very extreme cases. We had an outpouring of support. From a team in Bali, we were lent a portable X ray machine, which helped us to assess the fractures in Leli and other orangutans. In a few days, 2 specialists will be arriving to assist with the surgery on the baby orangutan with the protruding bone, as well as to look at Dian and Leli. I spoke with Lone yesterday about Dian, and she reported that Dian has had a change of medicine and is starting to respond. Yesterday she ate for the first time in over 10 days. Let us hope she has turned the corner.

Of the dozens of orangutans under 6 months old, they are all doing quite well. This is due, I am sure, to the loving attention they receive from the babysitters 24/7 (and I did a fair bit of babysitting through the night too!) I am still moved by the outpouring of love our babysitters give to our most vulnerable charges. I must extend this sentiment to a number of the men who looked after Dian, day and night. They were so gentle with her, and held her hand for hours at a time. I sincerely believe that without this kind of attention, Dian would not have survived.”

Michelle returns soon for three months to Nyaru Menteng, where she will be assisting the BBC with the filming of Orangutan Diary, which will also be shown on Animal Planet.

In the meantime, she maintains almost daily contact with the project that she cares so deeply about. And she was happy to report some small triumphs from the field. “These,” she says, “is what keeps us all going.”

2nd April 2006
“The rescue and release teams have just returned from a 6 day operation, in which 42 wild orangutans, including mothers with infants, were released into a protected forest. Mama Maok, the orangutan who suffered a serious machete attack, had recovered so well, that she was part of this group.

Dian is now healthy again, but seems to have suffered brain damage from her long illness. She now plays everyday in the baby school forest, and serves as a stupendous mentor for the little ones. She teaches them how to make nests and what foods to eat.

Leli has also nearly completely recovered. It is likely that she will be in the next batch of wild orangutans to be re-released. That is, if she can live without her popcorn.

And the baby with the severe fracture is now climbing again, after undergoing an operation to save his arm. He will soon join the other wild infants.”

ACTION
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK would like to ask all travel operators to not promote any zoo, park or other facility that uses orangutans and other wild animals in a degrading way. Such attractions are particularly popular in Southeast Asia, where orangutans are made to perform Thai boxing matches, dress up in clothing and do silly acts. Not only is this degrading to an intelligent and noble species such as the orangutan, it is known that in order to make orangutans perform this way requires an amount of force that can only be described as abusive beating. Furthermore, BOS and other agencies have uncovered over 100 orangutans captured from the forests of Borneo and Sumatra and smuggled to these locations for the purpose of entertaining paying guests. It is estimated that for each smuggled orangutan that is found in these locations, at least 4, and as many as 10, others will have died, in the capture, the transport or shortly after arrival, and including the mothers of these young orangutans. The illegal trade in wildlife is second in revenue only to the illegal trade in arms and drugs. BOS UK asks that if you or your clients witness any animal being used or caged in what they feel is an unsuitable or degrading way, that they contact them. Please also contact them if you are willing to write letters to appropriate recipients in these countries voicing your concerns over these issues. Names, addresses and emails can be provided. As this deplorable behaviour depends upon the naiveté of tourists in order to thrive, travel operators can play an important part in bringing an end to it.

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK accepts donations of any size as well as gifts in kind. Visitors to the region are often asked to hand carry small amounts of much needed supplies, either to offset operational costs or if the items are unavailable in Indonesia. If there is anyway in which travel operators can alert their clients that may be interested in orangutan conservation to the work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK, it could make a very real difference to the survival of the orangutan.

Preparations are underway to develop eco-tourism at BOS’s Samboja Lestari Reforestation Project outside of Balikpapan in Eastern Kalimantan Indonesia. A first class eco-lodge has been built. Please contact Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK if you are interested in participating in this venture which will support a major and innovative project in which a rainforest is being recreated where only barren land once lay, and in which it is expected that orangutans and other wild animals can be released to live a wild and protected existence. (See www.create-rainforest.org for more information).

For more information, please visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk or email