Ting San and Mamu

Rehab Training for the Young Orangutans

Our two young orangutan, Ting San and Mamu, continued to go out most days as a pair for their jungle training at our nearby feeding platforms with two of our rehabilitation officers Hillary and Jugah. Mamu has practically doubled in bodyweight since our orangutan expert recommended separating her from her companions in her enclosure and has improved tremendously.

Though still young, Mamu continually impresses us all with her degree of jungle expertise, and  unless the weather is particularly bad the two of them will generally stay out all day in the surrounding forest generally coming back in around 4 or 5 in the early evening; Mamu’s affinity for the tree tops is successfully rubbing off on Ting San and she now spends less and less time seeking out human contact at ground level and emulating Mamu’s superior climbing technique in the canopy.

Things are extremely positive for the both of them.rehab has proven to be the best thing to ever happen

 

Mamu has always been quite difficult to persudad to come home at night she much prefers to be in the trees and on the evening on the 26^TH February she refused to come down from the tree to be taken back to her night den. Hillary and I stayed with her until It was dark and then knowing that she would not move until first light left her alone. She has lived in the forest with her mother and over the last few weeks has shown us that she is very forest wise so there was no concern for her safety we just wanted to be sure that she knew there was food for her so I placed a Jack Fruit on the feeding platform hoping that she would return to eat there and not return to the centre.First thing in the morning and Mamu is still in the same tree which in daylight shows us is full of fruit explaining why she has no desire to come down. I take Ting San to the tree to see if she is interested in playing with her but to no avail, Hillary spends the morning observing her and trying to encourage her to stay closer to the platform where she can be monitored better, but there is still no need to be concerned she is just showing a desire to be In the forest.

I take over from Hillary when he goes to lunch,mamu has moved from the tree she spent the night in and is now making her way back to the platform which is exactly what we wanted her to do, food w ill be placed on the platform and it is hoped that she will chose to stay out again all night, she is very vocal and is aware that we are monitoring her, it is interesting for me as I am now learning the sounds that Orangutans make in the forest from the noises she makes to let us know she is displeased with us bothering her, to the snapping of the branches and general destruction an Orangutan makes and also I can now tell when she is in a particular tree by the way the tree moves it is totally different to the movement a squirrel will make , i am finding it fascinating to learn this much about the forest. The noises in the forest are amazing so many birds during the day and when I was out until dark last night the noise of all the insects was incredible the forest just seems to come to life in the evening with the bats and flying foxes. So far I am being continually leeched but have escaped meeting any snakes or big spiders and for the moment the rain has eased

Mamu chose to stay out again and was heard near the platform just as it got dark so it was nice to know she was settled for the night. There was no sign of her in the morning but by 11am she had arrived at the platform, Hillary asked me to take some food up there and sit with Ting San as it was coming up to lunch time. I placed food on the opposite platform to the one I was sitting on and watched as she ate the food left for her, Ting San joined her and was pleased to have her friend back, they then spent ages playing before Mamu headed Back to the trees , Ting San thought about following her and went a small way with her before coming back.

Even with a torrential downpour of rain Mamu chose to stay out again all night.

She was not at feeding platform in the morning but by lunchtime had turned up and when Ting San was bought back for lunch as it was raining she asked to be bought in as well, she was checked over and was fine. It was a wet afternoon so Mamu and Tingsan (to the satisfaction of Ting San as she hates the rain) stayed inside and Mamu was able to rest after her expeditions in the jungle over the past few days.

Back to the start of another week and the decision is made that now is the right time for Ting San to start to be left on her own with Mamu, Tingsan loves human contact but now that she has Mamu to interact with if we do not stop a lot of the human contact now and let her bond with Mamu the moment may be lost, so Tingsan was taken to the forest with her breakfast and promptly left there to climb trees with Mamu, at lunch time food was taken up and left on platform where she was quite happy to remain on her own, hourly checks were made throughout the day without them knowing we were there and both Orangutans were settled. The Events of the day had been so positive Hillary decided to leave both Mamu and Tingsan out together all night, Unfortunately later in the afternoon we had a downpour of rain which was obviously going to last a good few hours but as the decision had been made it was decided not to alter it and leave them both anyway, an artificial nest has been made and hung up near the platform and when they were checked just before dark although it was still heavy rain they were both okay and together in the nest.

Next morning and they were both okay and none the worse for their wet night, in some ways it was a good lesson learnt by Ting San that if she can stay out in that weather she can cope with anything, Ting San was tired but the sun was shining and she was observed resting on the platform but she made no attempt to come down from the forest even though it would have been very easy for her to do that.

This is a long journey now for these two youngsters there will be times when they wish to return back for reassurance and other times when all they need is the forest over the next few months with Hillays guidance they will be allowed to mature naturally in the forest knowing that there is always someone to turn to if they need help. Ting San especially has matured so much as is shown by the fact she will remain in the forest without human presence it is once again quite emotional to think of her up in the trees, on her own and so grown up.

I return home in a few days time and return again the middle of April with Gareth and whilst away I will be keeping up to date with the progress of all the animals

The Orangutans are the hardest to say goodbye to as you develop a special relationship with them and it feels like saying goodbye to your family for a while, Doris will continue to do her trips to the forest and may even be climbing higher in the trees, the constant rain we have had since the beginning of the year has delayed so much that we could have done, Orangutans are not keen on the rain so now the rainy season has come to an end Doris may become more adventurous . Ting San and Mamu should progress well and it will be great if they have both established a routine of living in the forest without constant human intervention and even better if when I go to the platform with their food and call them they both come through the trees to see me. It will be nearly a year since Gareth has seen Ting San and he is in for a big surprise when he sees how big she has grown and how independent she now is.

I am so glad that now there are two youngsters out in the forest they can teach each other so much and develop at a much quicker pace it is lovely to go home having seen how happy Ting San is , full credit must be given to Hillary for the work he has done, he works long hours very rarely leaving the centre until it is dark making sure that Ting San and Mamu are settled for the night knowing once it is dark they will not move until the morning. His knowledge is outstanding and he is an amazing asset to Matang Wildlife Centre.