Induction day

We all got up bright and early and raring to go. Ellis the head keeper had asked us to meet at the clinic for 8:15am. We were all very excited about actually getting to meet the Orangutans. 6 of us would be in the clinic feeding the baby orangutans and cleaning their cages. The other 6 would be at platform 4 feeding the older ones. Then in the afternoon we would swap.

Our group nominated to do the feeding platform first and save the clinic until the afternoon. So under the instruction of James and Victor we grabbed a bunch of bananas each and started to trek through the jungle to platform 4. On the way we met Broc for the first time. Broc hung above us and stared which was quite intimidating, little did we know what he had in store for us.

We continued on to the feeding platform, keeping an eye out for anymore Orangutans or the occasional leech which was trying his luck! As we got closer more and more Orangutans came swinging in. There were about 15 in total, ranging from young and timid 7 year olds, to bigger and boisterous 10 year olds.

At the platform we stashed half the bananas in a metal crate and the other half Victor took onto the platform to feed the Orangutans. As we walked closer to the platform the Orangutans became more interested in us. Some wanted to hold our hand and be lead to the platform, others wanted to wrestle with us.

A quick note – At this stage of the rehabilitation it is important to have minimal human contact. So anytime an Orangutan tries to touch you or cuddle you, as hard as it is you need to show tough love and push them away. In the wild a mother Orangutan would start to push her baby away around 6 years old when it has learnt all the skills it need and is strong enough to look after itself.

Some Orangutans are more persistent than others… This is when Broc decided we weren’t going anywhere. He would come in at grab our leg with both hands and feet, then persist to try and knock you over so he could have a wrestle. This sound like fun, except wrestling involves a lot of biting and the Orangutans don’t realize we aren’t as tough or as strong as them. Luckily with the help of Victor and James we all managed to stay on our feet and not get bitten too much.

This behavior was because to the Orangutans we are a new toy. So we hung around for ½ an hour until most of them calmed down and we headed back to the rest house for lunch. Hopefully after a few days they will get used to us.

The afternoon we went to the clinic to feed baby and sick Orangutans. This was really good fun. The babies are so cute. We fed them bananas and gave them a drink then cleaned out their cages. We had a meeting to go to after, so we missed out on teaching them to climb but I am really looking forward to spending 9 days in the clinic.

The next day was a free one so Jo, Kerin and I decided to get up for morning feeding and get some photos from the visitor’s platform. Only 4 Orangutans turned up in the morning but we got a few good shots. We went back for lunch then chose to visit the Sun Bear enclosure where we help out during the afternoons when we are on the jungle trek group.

After this there was just enough time to visit the visitor’s platform again for afternoon feeding. We are so glad we did. As we were walking along the walkway we noticed it was very quiet. Then all of a sudden we heard a load deep grunting. Jo and I looked at each other then checked around us. We were just around the corner from the platform. As we turned we could see there were lots of tourists today but they were especially quiet. We walked quicker and as we expected ‘CID’ the WILD dominate male was at the platform.

The last time he had been see here was over 6 months ago. He weighs roughly 170lb and has the strength to do some serious damage. Needless to say the rangers on the platform didn’t look their normal relaxed selves. Lots of the younger Orangutans had scarpered but a few females were still hanging around. We think CID is looking for some loving. He ate a few bananas then decided to swing out and disappeared into the jungle. I just hope we don’t bump into him at platform 4 tomorrow, but I would love to see him at the tourist platform again.