Buttress Roots and Motorbike Bugs

by Sophie Hanson (Intern with the Orangutan Foundation) I have had the good fortune to have visited several rainforests across the world, but none more memorable than those of Borneo. I was struck by the incredible buttress roots of iconic ‘jungle’ trees, hanging vines and aerial roots! These trees have no boundaries - even in metropolitan cities such as Jakarta you may find them bursting through the concrete in all their glory, leading me to wonder what secrets they may hold up in the canopy. Once among such giants it is suddenly easy to imagine great troops of monkeys swinging their way through to fruiting trees, and whenever I find myself in their midst I can’t help but strain my neck in anticipation of such an event.

Unfortunately, soon after arriving, I realised my curly strawberry-blonde mop of a hairdo appears to many insects as a magnificent flower possessing the most succulent of nectar! I really learned to hold an iron nerve as beetles rumbling like motorbikes skimmed my hairline. By day, the chorus of insects is enough to make any entomophobe flee in terror, with the sounds only occasionally interrupted by the haunting call of birds floating through the trees. As night falls, this chorus changes hands with the great swathes of frogs that inhabit all levels of the rainforest. I remember vividly the sudden bouts of both fear and amazement I experienced whilst walking through this incredible habitat as dusk settled. I was impressed by the military discipline of lines of giant ants passing forest trails, and captivated by giant millipedes scuttling along the forest floor.

During my stay I visited a sanctuary for orangutans, as well as a sanctuary for proboscis monkeys, and found I could have happily watched both species for hours.  Orangutan infants made me giggle with their slow, deliberate movements; their wispy hair giving them the appearance of determined little old men. The dominant male proboscis monkey sitting close-by was less appealing as he honked his swollen nose at females - his massive belly and vibrant appendage on display - while they invited him to mate with hilarious facial expressions. Whilst among the mangroves I saw my first mudskipper fish jumping and gasping in the shallows, and was surprised by their size - nature documentaries had always made them appear much larger!

In short, I was astounded by the richness and variety of biodiversity these rainforests had to offer. Visiting rainforests around the world always leaves me in awe, and I will forever fight to protect them.

Rainforest Reflections: Day 11

Rainforest Reflections by Rowan Sharp (This blog has been edited to include more recent events.)

Working for an NGO that primarily focuses on habitat conservation, I normally try to avoid speaking too emotively or sentimentally about the animals we rescue. But when a wounded gibbon is clutching your hand as he fights for his life, it’s really very hard not to see the emotional side of things.

This particular gibbon had been kept as a pet by a local villager, and bound by ropes within their home. When the gibbon grew in size, and began to become wilder in nature, he eventually bit the owner. It’s a shame that it took an event of this kind to push the owner to give him up to the local authorities, but it at least landed him in the safe hands of the Orangutan Foundation.

It was clear from the moment we laid eyes on him that something was wrong; a usually very energetic (and potentially aggressive) species, the gibbon instead lay limp and silent on the floor of his cage. As soon as we took a closer look, we could see the deep deep wounds around his waist which had already caused a terrible infection. His body trembled violently and there was no shadow of a doubt that he was in a great deal of pain. Domesticated by years of being kept as a pet, the ape was desperate for human contact and reached out to us to be held…ethics and professionalism were thrown out the window at this point. His death truly felt imminent, and refusing to hold him was to sentence him to die alone in a steel cage.

This first encounter was heartbreaking for all involved, and it’s really quite difficult to put the range of emotions into words. All I know is that, at the end of the day, the feeling I felt most strongly was anger. Anger at the people who could tie up an innocent animal without a second thought to its well-being (never mind that gibbons are one of the most intelligent species on the planet). Anger that in this day and age, when awareness is so high, people still don’t see a problem with keeping a wild ape as a pet. And anger that we couldn't have done anything sooner; maybe somehow prevented the infection from getting to this late stage. But there was no one around to direct this anger to. We felt helpless, and there was little to be done but to hold his hands and hope for the best.

For the next few days, the gibbon was held in the Foundation’s office in Pangkalan Bun where he could receive constant care from our staff. He remained weak and his wounds were not visibly healing, but his appetite was building – as was our optimism. Sadly at 1:04am on Friday April 15^th, we received word from our night guard that the gibbon had passed away.

We are all devastated by this turn of events and can only hope that his story can serve as a lesson to all.

Orangutans Are Not Pets

At the Orangutan Foundation, we experience first-hand the consequences of people keeping orangutans as pets through many of our rescues. Keeping an orangutan as a pet has been illegal since 1931 under Indonesian and international law. Orangutans are also protected by international trading laws (CITES), where they are listed as Appendix I, prohibiting all unlicensed trade. In Central Kalimantan we are often finding cases where infants are simply being kept as pets after being found near community land with no mother. We don't see evidence of illegal pet trade in Central Kalimantan, however, as habitat destruction increases, orangutans are more commonly being found in and around villages and towns.

Orangutan infants are entirely dependent on their mother until 5 years of age, and most commonly stay with them until they are around 8 or 9 years old. This time together is crucial for the mother to teach them where in the forest to find food and shelter. It is important to learn where the fruiting trees are, as well as the best time of year to find them! If an orangutan isn't given the opportunity to learn these skills, their chances of survival in the forest are slim without the help of our soft-release programme, where they have a chance to practice skills such as climbing and nest building before being released in the wild.

People keeping orangutans as pets generally do not feed them the right kinds of food, and because of this many orangutans we rescue are severely malnourished. This can lead to serious health problems. Mental health can also be a problem. Primates in particular can suffer emotional and psychological trauma just as we do. For example, many orangutans rescued as pets are said to show signs of depression through lack of appetite. They need the opportunity to learn from their mother, to explore their environment and develop naturally in order to live a fulfilling life.

Of course, it is also important to note that as primates are wild animals (not domesticated, like a dog or a cat), this makes their actions unpredictable. Orangutans are very strong, and have to be, or else they would not be able to move around with such ease high up in the canopy. They can inflict serious damage, and are known to bite to defend themselves.

At the Orangutan Foundation, we believe it is wrong for people to keep orangutans as pets, and hope to future eliminate this issue through improved education and awareness. In Central Kalimantan it is becoming a more and more noticeable problem, which we believe may be related to habitat loss as a result of forest fires. This will continue to be a problem in future unless action is taken. We hope that through publicising our rescues and working closely with local communities, people will better understand the plight of orangutans, and learn that they are best left in the forest.

Show your support!  #PrimatesAreNotPets #PrimatesNotPlaymates

Rainforest Reflections: Day 2

Rainforest Reflections by Rowan Sharp It’s only my second day in Pangkalan Bun and we already have six orangutans awaiting their release. I’m initially not sure whether to be thrilled by my good timing, or devastated by the sudden number of wild animals in need of a safe home. Regardless, four wild orangutans were released into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve today: two females, Menteng and Nurbaya, and their two male infants.

Despite spending each and every day working to protect our orangutan cousins, these four are the first wild orangutans I have ever laid eyes on! And wild they were… Menteng and Nurbaya greeted us with loud kiss-squeaks (the sound orangutans use to express displeasure) and aggressive rattles of their cages. Though it’s never pleasant to see an animal in a cage, the wild nature the females exhibited is a fantastic sign and bodes well for the success of their release into the wild.

Their immense strength was immediately clear, and it was admittedly a great struggle to transfer them from town to the river, and then by speedboat to the release site in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. The sun was extremely strong throughout the day and as time passed the orangutans’ frustration was mounting. When we finally arrived at the release site, Menteng nearly overturned her cage she was shaking it so hard!

But when the first set of cage doors eventually opened, mother and infant sped up the nearest tree, swung to the next and then rapidly out of sight. Nurbaya's release was almost identical. We were, however, aware that Menteng remained in the vicinity, because she continued to kiss-squeak at us from the canopies! Evidently she was tired of our company…

Despite the constant worry of causing any stress for the orangutans during their translocation, the actual release was an extremely calm and rather moving moment. Orangutans never seem to hesitate for even a moment before racing to freedom - if you had no interest in great apes, this moment might feel anti-climactic to you because of the speed at which they disappear out of sight – but for me, their scaling of a tall tree has an almost fantastical super-hero quality to it. I myself am extremely grateful to have witnessed these releases in person, and to know that these orangutans are now safe to live out their days in the wild.

But sadly the need for orangutan rescues is never a good sign. These orangutans and their infants were both found within oil-palm plantations in the Kotawaringin Timur district of Central Kalimantan. This area has proved to be an ever-rising problem for the Orangutan Foundation, with more and more orangutans needing rescue here. The Kotawaringin Timur district doesn’t have a single protected conservation area, and after the recent forest fires in 2015, the natural habitat is seriously dwindling. Only oil-palm plantations remain, and because orangutans are constantly on the move and need a variety of food, it’s hardly surprising that they venture out of fragmented forest into plantations and community land.

What is surprising is that this is the 12th rescue this year from the same area, and it’s only April! For a point of reference, the Foundation rescued 19 orangutans over the duration of a year in 2015, and all were unique cases from different areas of Central Kalimantan. We will continue to discuss these issues with the Indonesian government throughout the week, and merely hope these numbers don’t continue to grow in the meantime.

Young orangutan rescued from local village

Last month, a staff member from the BKSDA informed us that someone had come to their office wanting to surrender an orangutan. The man was a local person from the town of Sampit, whose cousin had been keeping an orangutan in his home with the intent to sell him.

When the BKSDA went to the man’s house, they found the infant orangutan in a small wire chicken cage, where he had been living on a generous diet of milk and bananas for several weeks. The man claimed that he had found the young ape in his rubber plant garden a month prior when he heard it crying, seemingly abandoned by his mother.

Fortunately the BKSDA has now passed the infant orangutan on to the Orangutan Foundation, where he has been given proper health checks and will soon enter our soft-release programme. The orangutan weighed 4kg, and has been named Endut (an Indonesian term for someone with a large stomach) because of his big belly! Endut has been brought to Camp Buluh in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, and we are confident with the knowledge that in time he will be healthy enough to live independently in the forest.

We are thrilled that Endut is now in the safety of the reserve, but sadly this story points to a larger problem. Endut is the third infant orangutan to be surrendered to the Orangutan Foundation by local villagers this year alone*. It is worrying that in spite of all the outreach and education done in Central Kalimantan, people today are still enamoured with the idea of having an orangutan as a pet. This belief is unfounded and unfair to the wild animal in question - not to mention highly illegal in Indonesia.

On top of this, one question continues to plague our minds: why are these infants being abandoned in the first place? Has their mother ran away or has she been harmed? When an infant is reported to the Foundation, we may never find out what happened to their mothers. Yet with three orphaned infants found in the same area of Central Kalimantan within the space of two months, this situation is very unsettling.

We hope that our supporters will help us to raise awareness for the importance of keeping orangutans in the wild.

*As this blog was being written, another infant orangutan was rescued by the Orangutan Foundation from a local village.

'The Orangutan's World' by Eloise Blakey

The Orangutan’s World: A poem by Eloise Blakey Logging, clearing, chopping,

No trees for me.

Fire, burning, smoking,

No place for me.

Palm oil plantations,

No food for me.

Poaching, hunting, killing,

No peace for me.

Sleeping, climbing, swinging,

No home for me.

Habitat disappearing,

No tree, no me.

By Eloise Blakey

The Orangutan’s World: A story by Eloise Blakey

Hi, my name is Uri, and I am a five-year-old female orangutan. I live in the rainforests of Sumatra with my mother. It is an amazing place to live with its exotic flowers and lush green trees. There are lots of fabulous fruit for us to eat, my favourite being the spiky durian which is delicious, but smells so bad! When the fruit is out of season my mum and I have to eat leaves, insects and even the bark from the trees. When we are thirsty we collect rainwater from leaves, and when the weather is too dry we chew leaf sponges. If we need to, we drink from rivers and streams, but we do not like to go in the water.

I spend most of my day with mum looking for food, but sometimes I play with my friends swinging through the trees and playing hide and seek. The boys like play fighting and even bite each other. I try to keep away from them! If I wander too far, my mum calls me because the forest can be a dangerous place. When we are tired we build ourselves a nest in the trees and have a little sleep. I don’t see my father; he went off as soon as I was born, like all the males do, leaving my mum to look after me on her own. I would love to have a brother or sister but mum says it is hard enough keeping me safe.

We are in danger all the time from snakes, crocodiles and other predators, but our biggest threat comes from humans. They come along and chop down the trees we live in. We have to swing like made through the branches to get away from them. One of my friends was caught by them and the last we heard was she was being kept for a pet. That is so unfair, we have our rights and we should be left to live in peace. Another danger is the forest fires which the humans start as a quick way to clear the forest. As soon as we smell smoke mum and I rush away to a safer place. It is not always easy because the fire spreads so quickly. Sometimes my friends get caught up in it and either die from the smoke, or get killed by the humans. They don’t seem to like us, and if we dare go down to their plantations they shoot us.

It is not all bad though, there are some good humans and if they see us in trouble they rescue us and take us to places where we can get better. I hope I don’t have to go to one as I would miss my mum! Please think about us and tell your friends that we are endangered. You are responsible for our future - after all we are almost human!

By Eloise Blakey

'The Orangutans' World' by Morgan Davidson

The Orangutans' World by Morgan Davidson (Age 8) 

“Person of the forest”, dependent on trees,

Carrying their babies ‘til two or three.

Incredible animals, they have such style

From Sumatra and Borneo, their only two Isles.

Camouflaged orange, like autumn leaves,

They make new nests daily for sleeping in trees.

With flexible feet that work like hands,

And big toes holding their objects and branch.

Using tools to get food, honey, fruit and seeds,

Or termites from mounds, eggs and some leaves.

Making umbrellas from lovely large fronds,

Long arms great for swinging to travel along.

Cracking nuts open with powerful jaws,

That carry things gently when swinging some more.

But humans are causing them terrible loss,

Cutting down trees and stealing their young.

By cutting down their trees they’re left with no homes,

With no food to survive and nowhere to go.

We’re killing them now by using lots of palm oil,

We need to be careful we don’t kill them all.

They don’t make good pets, leave their babies alone,

Stop draining their forests, stop burning their homes!

Surely what we are doing is wrong,

So now we must save them for future children.

By Morgan Davidson 

(Age 8)

Morgan was our 1st Place Winner in the 6-9 Year Old Category for our 2016 Children's Writing Competition with National Geographic Kids.

Return to Safety

On 9^th February, our rescue team celebrated the relocation of two orangutans, a gibbon, and four slow lorises at Camp Buluh, in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

The two orangutans being released were both young females.  Narti, an adult of 15 years old, was previously rescued from a palm plantation, as documented in our last blog post ‘Last Tree Standing’. Ema is 6 years old, and was found in the Mendawai area.  She is still very young and although no longer dependent on her mother, will certainly benefit from monitoring and support provided by our teams in the Lamandau reserve.

Both orangutans left their cages immediately once freed in the forest.  Narti climbed straight up a tree, whilst Ema nearly fell in the water before joining Narti up in the heights of their true home.

Gibbons are notoriously elusive primates, living high in the treetops, generally only detectable through their haunting songs throughout the forest.  Therefore, it is quite understandable that the gibbon was ill at ease leaving the crate on the forest floor.

After an hour however, the gibbon plucked up the courage to climb a tree back to where he felt most at home, high above rescuers heads.

As slow lorises are nocturnal primates, all four slow lorises were released in the evening, so as to give them the best chance to adjust to their new surroundings when they are naturally at their most alert.

This is a major part of Orangutan Foundation’s work, rescuing orangutans as well as other primates and animals from ever-changing areas of land they once called home, and returning them to the safety of the forest.  Well done to our rescue teams on another great success!

'Last Tree Standing'

At 5pm on the 4^th of February, we received a moving and poignant photograph from the OF-UK rescue teams in Indonesia.

This orangutan was immediately visible, seen clinging to the top of a tall thin and burnt tree - the only tree in sight in an area overtaken by oil-palm.

A heart-breaking image like this perfectly sums up the extent of the devastation caused by habitat destruction in Indonesian Borneo. Rainforest habitat is rapidly dwindling, leaving orangutans to search for shelter on community land or in sparse and fragmented areas of forest. Fortunately this 15-year-old female was one of the lucky few: found, rescued and soon to be released.

The female orangutan, now named Narti, was examined by the OF-UK vet, Dr Wawan, and thought to have eaten palm-shoots as there was no other food around. The shoots from oil-palm plants are not healthy food for orangutans, and are a struggle to digest. Luckily after medication and given time being fed the right foods, Narti will be safely released back into orangutan habitat within the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

 Help us to provide stranded orangutans with a new and safe home: http://www.orangutan.org.uk/how-to-help

Share the hashtag #LastTreeStanding to help us build awareness for habitat destruction in Indonesia!

Orangutan found 500m from a main road

17.11.2015

Though the flames that overwhelmed Kalimantan for months are now out, it seems the damage may have already been done. Since September, the Orangutan Foundation rescue team has rescued an orangutan from burnt and desolate forest on a weekly basis. Now, the fires may have come to an end but this rise in rescue activity has not.

Orangutans are elusive creatures, and provided they live in optimum habitat, are relatively difficult to spot (much to the grievance of orangutan researchers!).  Yet this morning our teams rescued a young juvenile orangutan who could be seen at a distance, clambering the topmost point of an isolated tree just 500m from a main road. The proximity of this rescue to a public road is evidence of the devastation that wild orangutans will continue to face thanks to three months’ worth of wildfire.

As you can see in the images below, the habitat where this young orangutan was found has been very badly affected by the fires. Thankfully, the orangutan himself appeared to be in good health and will be released into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve right away!

Fire and smoke surrounds orangutan habitat

October 2015 Last Monday the Foundation rescue teams received a report from landowners in Mendawai that several orangutans might be trapped in an area nearby. This area in question was a narrow strip of forest, completely surrounded by fire and smoke.

Our teams, alongside members of the BKSDA, swiftly headed to the scene and, though the haze was thick, they were able to make out a large male orangutan in the clearing. In spite of the vet darting him with an anaesthetic, the male was merely slowed down because of his size, and was still able to scale a tall tree.

The height of the tree was too dangerous for our team members to climb, and before long the orangutan was once again on the move. Hours of following ensued, but eventually the thick haze from the fires overwhelmed the area and the atmosphere became too dark to continue. Though the rescue attempt failed, our rescue teams endeavoured to try to again the following day.

But on the following day, further reports were made to the Orangutan Foundation that, according to our staff, orangutans were “falling to the ground” because the forest was almost completely burned down. Trees were dried to a crisp and the air engulfed by heavy smoke. Despite these terrible conditions this rescue attempt was more successful, and our teams were able to rescue an adult female and her infant. The pair have now been named Vania and Venty, aged approximately 26 years old and 5 years old respectively.

Though this mother and her infant will be released into the safety of our protected Reserve, this turn of events only demonstrates the immense devastation facing Kalimantan’s forest habitat. Because of the extreme haze cloaking the entire region, it is likely that many more orangutans are stranded in these fire-damaged areas of land. Unless reported to us, there is no way of knowing where these orangutans are that are so desperately in need of rescuing.

The conditions caused by Indonesia’s fires have posed serious problems for the local people, as well as for their eco-tourism. Now we know that the dramatic weather conditions are affecting the wildlife within the forests as well, with more and more of their habitat continuing to be lost every day.

Note: Since writing this post, another orangutan has been rescued by our teams. That’s one failed rescue and two successful rescues in three days. More details to follow.

Protection begins with education

This Tuesday a wild orangutan was found dead in an oil-palm plantation. The Foundation vet, Dr Wawan, performed the necropsy, from which it was clear that the orangutan had been lying dead on the ground for three days before plantation staff found her. The review also showed that she had died from two severe puncture wounds. As a result, this case is now under investigation by our partners at the BKSDA. Even with all the work we do to towards education and human-orangutan conflict mitigation, there continue to be cases like these. The plantation where the orangutan was found is located within the Lamandau district where the Foundation does the bulk of its orangutan reintroduction work. In such close proximity to an area that we strive to protect and make safe for the orangutans we release, it is always alarming to find such animosity.

Our work to raise awareness and to educate local communities about endangered orangutans is more important than ever.

Help us to protect wild orangutans from fates such as these.

The Fruits of Our Labour

Spring has brought with it a plentiful fruiting season to Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, meaning orangutans don’t need to be visiting our camp feeding sites to compensate for food shortages anymore. Because of this, our field staff aren’t seeing nearly as many orangutans as they did earlier in the year!

That is why we were especially excited to catch a glimpse of one of our rescued orangutans, Okto, playing in the trees this week. As a young juvenile, Okto has been part of our soft-release programme for the past 6 months. This programme is for young orangutans that need extra monitoring and care. They are taken daily to the forest to learn about their natural food resources and to practice their climbing.

Now that the fruiting season has begun, Okto has been seen to be enjoying climbing as well as finding all the right fruits to feed himself with. This comes as wonderful news to the Foundation, as it is proof that our soft-release programme is good preparation for an orangutan to survive in the wild.

[Okto eating ubar fruits]

[Okto not eating ubar fruits…]

Friday the 13th brings good luck for our rescue teams!

Friday 13^th is a day infamously associated with bad luck, but fortunately in our case, the day brought us good fortune! After two earlier rescue attempts, the Foundation staff were finally able to safely and successfully release another orangutan left stranded by habitat destruction into a protected release camp.

Orangutan Foundation staff, alongside the BKSDA rescue team, responded to a report that an orangutan was destroying the oil-palm trees on a farmer’s plantation near Pangkalan Bun.

Foundation staff quickly established that this plantation was within an area of now fragmented secondary peat swamp forest, the remnants of what would have been an orangutan’s preferred habitat. Such sites are proof that suitable orangutan habitats continue to shrink.

Yet although Foundation staff were able to assess the site, it wasn't until the third time our rescue teams were contacted on Friday 13^th that they were able to track down the orangutan.

Once they had found him, our rescue team then had to work particularly hard to manoeuvre the moist peat and scrubland habitat, as well as to anaesthetise the orangutan. With a large, strong and cheek- padded male, this was no easy feat!

A full physical health examination showed that the wild orangutan was healthy and aged +- 25 years, making him a perfect candidate for immediate release into one of the Foundation's release camp sites, all within 48 hours of capture.

Once the anaesthetic had worn off, our team, alongside staff from Camp Siswoyo, opened the adult male’s cage doors and watched as he quickly assessed his new environment before disappearing into the tall tree-tops. The Foundation is excited to welcome a mature and healthy male into a protected reserve, and has decided to name him Raja! Good luck Raja!

Exciting start to the New Year!

Sheila gave birth to her third offspring on the 15th of December 2014. We don't yet know if it's male or female. Her nurturing instinct is obvious from just looking at the photos. This birth is a testament to the ideal habitat she lives in, and to the conservation work that protects this area; the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. The Foundation has always said, "If you protect the habitat, you protect the wildlife" - please read more by clicking here.

This offspring is a very good start to 2015, and two more are on the way ! 

Now it's New Year, we look back with confidence, knowing that we have made a difference...

The Foundation works in three areas of critical orangutan habitat. We extend the scope of our achievements by patrolling an area almost as large as the land area of Singapore. Our strategically located guard posts are therefore vital. We have been able to rescue more and more orangutans whose lives were in imminent danger. 75% of all orangutans live outside protected areas, so with our partners, we launched a campaign to collaborate with 18 oil palm companies for the protection of orangutans within the forests of their companies concessions and surrounding areas.

• In 2014, the Foundation translocated 17 orangutans into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.
• Torup and Kotim were rescued from community land and both are now in the ‘Soft Release’ programme, learning skills for an independent life in the wild.
• 2014 saw the birth of two infants, and two more orangutans are due to give birth in mid 2015.
• An exciting new initiative was the installation of camera traps in Pondok Ambung, Tanjung Puting National Park and Belantikan Arut. Without these camera traps, we would of never have had sightings of clouded leopards, one of the most elusive species of the tropical forest.

• The Volunteer Programme once again proved its worth, by renovating a Guard Post on a vulnerable river in the south of Tanjung Puting National Park.

• An important research project is the Population and distribution of the endangered banteng (wild ox), found in the Belantikan region. This is critical to the banteng’s future status.

•  Thanks to the diligence of the Foundation staff, forest fires (an annual problem) were quickly identified and isolated, which prevented further areas of the forest from being burnt.

Thank you to all - your support really does make a difference and the orangutan foundation could not have achieved any the above without your help. A very happy New Year.

Learning to be free!

You may wonder about the ladder in this photo… In this case, it’s because Ivan and Yuli are reluctant to come back down from the tree, the staff – using the ladder – can reach them high in the tree, and bring them back to their cage for safety.

After one year in soft release (and using the ladder!), Ivan has now graduated to spending all his time in the forest, with no need to come back to the cage at night! As always, he still travels with Yuli (see some of their story - click here).

They are great companions; the same age, both developing through their soft release at the same time. After one year, they were both released together – a great release to witness! We are hopeful Ivan will become a mature, confident male in the future…

Direct quote from our Vet… “Don’t know if someday Ivan will become mature male, we hope so, or even dominant and then what happen? are they still together?. Together or not, we are all happy to know that they were survive in the forest.”

The Foundation’s relationship with individual orangutans will ideally be short, as we can translocate fit and healthy individuals straight away. Sometimes the process of soft release can take some time, but whatever care the orangutans need, the Camp staff and Foundation vet are ready and waiting to improve the lives of those rescued. To find out more about the Foundation’s Translocation and Release Programme, please click here. You can make a donation to this life saving work here.

...With a lot of help from our friends...

More can be achieved by working together...Collaboration and partnerships are how we extend the reach of the foundation. Working with groups who have similar aims, we raise funds to support our team on the ground, funding research and education. The training courses we administer enable local people to continue to live sustainably within forest environments.

GRASP - The Great Ape Survival Partnership, working with its partners UNEP and UNESCO - comprises of the great ape range states that work together to lift the threat of imminent extinction facing apes in Africa and Southeast Asia. The Orangutan Foundation is on the GRASP Executive Committee.

The Ape Alliance is an international coalition of organisations and individuals working for the conservation and welfare of apes. The Foundation is a founding member of the Alliance. Here Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall and other speak in a panel discussion with Ape Alliance Chair and Foundation Trustee, Ian Redmond OBE at Ape Alliance's 'Hope for Apes' evening in 2010 at the Lyceum Theatre

Both these groups provide a forum for discussion, campaign for public awareness and help information exchange between groups, including the coordination of events. The Orangutan Foundation works with these groups to ensure our experience of working for forest protection over 24 years has the maximum effect across the globe.

Yayorin - Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Indonesian Orangutan Foundation) — is our partner organisation. Our work with Yayorin contributes on their  Education and Awareness Programme, supporting and promoting their projects. This has included helping with Kampung Konservasi, the conservation village that provides a learning centre for the local community, teaching sustainable agricultural techniques.

We also collaborate with Yaryorin on research in Belantikan (click here to learn more) — a remote forest that is home to the world's largest population of orangutans in an unprotected area. We’ve mentioned the work of the Mobile Education and Library unit previously (click here) – another project Yayorin run with our support.

The Foundation and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry work together under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This is vitally important for our ongoing work in Indonesia and all our efforts in collaboration with the Ministry, which now spans over ten years.

These relationships allow development and new achievements. Together, we can plan for the future and take our own roles in leading proactive work plans, safeguarding wild habitat and promoting the protection of the great apes. We thank all our friends and partners who work with us. Achievements so far have made a big difference, so these groups are have laid good foundations to continue with fantastic projects for great ape conservation. To keep up to date with our work and our friends - sign up to our Email Updates by clicking here!

Great times ahead: this November be #OuAware14

Dear all,

Exciting times are coming up! Although November seems far away, time goes quickly... So when is Orangutan Awareness Week 2014?!

This year's Orangutan Awareness Week will be held 10th-16th of November, with ORANGE DAY on the 12th (the Wednesday - as always).

We are already sending schools materials and the orange costumes are getting an Autumn clean. Our ambassadors are putting up posters and we really can't wait to see everyone's efforts in 2014 to help save orangutans.

It is important to dedicate a week to raising awareness and raising funds. It is a time where all and any communities can come together and do small and big things to support the safeguarding of Indonesian Bornean habitat. All funds raised will go towards the conservation of orangutans in critical orangutan habitat. Our work prioritises conservation of standing forests and local capacity building to ensure orangutans and amazingly diverse habitat are protected into the future. See some ideas and stories of our Awareness Weeks here!

We'll be collecting all the photos of YOU, fun-loving public having a good time for orangutans, so please stay in touch - see all the fun on facebook too!

Be orange, be daring, have fun, and swing towards helping...

A Future for Orangutans, Forests and People

Camera trapping to save species

The Orangutan Foundation are proud to be partners of a groundbreaking Camera Trapping Project with Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) and The Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop) - allowing us to document animals that have never been seen before in the remote and highly diverse area of Belantikan Hulu. Here, Susan Cheyne, co-coordinator of the project, tells us about the initial results... Check out the stunning footage we got; sun bears here, an orangutan here and a pangolin here.

"July 2014 sees the end of 2 years of camera trapping in 6 forests across Kalimantan. 160 camera traps were set out covering at total of almost 700km2 of rainforest. The final forest to be surveyed was started in February 2014 in collaboration with Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) and the Orangutan Foundation UK (OFUK).

The Belantikan-Arut area in Central Kalimantan, whose core area is Belantikan Hulu, is a spectacular landscape spanning 5,000km² hectares across Central and West Kalimantan, is known to contain the largest single population of orangutans outside of protected areas.

The results of this work are very exciting. Not only were Sunda clouded leopards confirmed in this forest but also the elusive banteng. The banteng is a large and rare wild cattle species and is endemic to Borneo but is not widespread across the island.

Of course orang-utans featured on the camera traps, adding to the recent information that the man of the forest in fact spends a lot of time on the ground. Not only were large males caught on camera but juveniles and mothers and infants travelling on the ground.

Of great interest is the number of deer and bearded pigs especially the majestic Sambar deer, largest of the 5 species on Borneo. Good eating for a clouded leopard!

The white-fronted langur (see closely related species - the red langur - pictured above) is normally swinging up in the canopy, but like many primates, also comes to the ground. This species has a very patchy distribution across western Borneo and confirmation of the presence in Belantikan is important new information.

Sun bears are the smallest of all the world’s bears and have the longest tongue of any bear! Females generally have 1-2 cubs each year. We were fortunate to have surveyed during the time of year when cubs are venturing out and about with their mother and captured some wonderful photos and videos of their interactions.

The little yellow-throated marten is apparently widely distributed throughout Borneo but not much is known about these animals. Living alone or in pairs, they are active at both day and night. Although listed as IUCN Red List Least Concern, nothing is known about the population numbers on Borneo.

Camera traps provide an amazing and unique view into the wildlife of the forests we are working to protect. Almost each photo provides new information about behaviour, distribution or activity of these animals."

Check out our recent blog for more amazing photos, or get in touch about any of our projects!