When we first heard about a school for orphan orangutans in Borneo, admittedly a Disney-fied, great apes version ofAnniewas the initial vision in our mind’s eye. However, the reality of theFOUR PAWS Forest School, a new animal rehabilitation project in partnership with local agency Jejak Pulang and the Indonesian government’s forest ministry is, at once, more tragic but also more inspiring than any Broadway musical.
Nanang Sujana/Four Paws
Ware told PEOPLE theForest School‘s unique program currently plans to take in about 30 more orangutans in the near future. “Only about 50,000 Bornean orangutans are left, indicating a population decline of roughly 80% since 1950. In the same period, approximately three quarters of Borneo’s rain forests have been converted for human purposes, mainly into industrial agriculture or coal mining areas, leaving orangutans little choice other than starvation or eating from human plantations. This exposes them to orangutan-human conflict with the danger of being killed as crop raiders and pests. As long as their habitat continues to be threatened and encounters with humans increase, sadly we will continue to see orphaned orangutans who need to be taken in to our care,” explains Ware.
Caring for the orphans can be a 24/7 job for the FOUR PAWS Forest School staff. Because the babies and youngsters are not yet able to care for and defend themselves, they return to a quarantine area each night. “We are currently developing infrastructure and building specialized night houses where the orangutans can sleep, protected from humans and other wildlife,” says Ware. Depending on their ages, individual experiences and psychological condition, some orangutans require constant care from the human surrogates.
Ware tells PEOPLE that the FOUR PAWS Forest School’s rehabilitation process is aligned with the natural development of immature orangutans and follows a science-based curriculum. “Depending on their age, psychological condition and prior knowledge, the orangutans start their education … at different levels; kindergarten, forest school, or orangutan academy. Importantly, every orangutan will pass through the successive training steps according to his/her individual speed and level of competence.”
These steps are as follows:
- Orangutan Academy at the Release Site:When reaching puberty at 6-8 years, normal orangutans will begin to become increasingly independent from their mothers, but full independence is not reached before 8-10 years (in Bornean orangutans). Adolescent orangutans will be transferred, together with their caretakers, to the orangutan academy at the release forest to become familiar with the specific biodiversity of the area.
“During the health examination we found an air rifle bullet embedded in his left shoulder at the x-ray. This injury had already healed. Luckily the bullet is not impacting his health and since he is still very small the vet team cannot remove the bullet yet. We are surmising that his mother lost her homeland due to habitat destruction and was starving and hunted in human-made areas. But now Gerhana is very active and agile in the trees at the forest, he is able to climb up and down trees and move from one tree to another easily and he loves the forest food. And he is growing his hair again – right now he is sporting a nice reddish crew-cut,” Ware happily reports.
PEOPLE wondered if once the animals are released, whether they’re reluctant to leave the school or their human caregivers. Ware explained that much like in the wild, the transition from childhood to adulthood is gradual, and a timetable of independence is not strictly enforced.
“Only orangutans who are really competent to take the step are released to the wild. A key point in our work is assuring that the orangutans will be able to care for themselves, this means they need to learn to avoid humans. As we begin to release animals who are ready, there will be no further contact with their caregivers, similar to the way they will move away from their mothers naturally and become independent,” says Ware.
source: people.com
