Great apes: The International Indonesian Animal Rescue Foundation (YIARI) and several other conservation groups have organized a photo exhibition to mark the launch of the Indonesian Forest and Climate Support (IFACS) Program in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. JP/Severianus EndiVeterinarian Adi Irawan described how a young orangutan was ensnared by a wild boar trap set by residents in a forested area of Kalimantan.
“We will amputate its wrist in the near future to save its life. It is severely infected due to the trap,” Adi, who is also the administrative manager of the International Indonesian Animal Rescue Foundation (YIARI), said.
A photograph of the orangutan was one of several on display at a recent exhibition sponsored by YIARI at the Hotel Aston in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.
YIARI and several other conservation groups organized the exhibition to mark the launch of the Indonesian Forest and Climate Support (IFACS) Program in Kalimantan.
The program is the result of a cooperative agreement between Indonesia and the US, and had been sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Photographs of the 20 adult and 30 infant orangutans currently housed in YIARI’s shelter are on display at the exhibition, and depict how the apes have been confiscated, nurtured and reintroduced into nature.
“We are handling a higher number of infant orangutans than adults. People tend to keep young orangutans because they are regarded as cuter, but as this is a violation. We, together with the BKSDA [Natural Resource Conservation Agency], are conducting confiscation,” Adi said.
The YIARI and the BKSDA have been successful in a campaign to buy the endangered primates from local residents who originally purchased the apes from traders and poachers.
According to Adi, infant orangutans were typically obtained by slaughtering their mothers, as immature orangutans were dependent on their mothers until the age of eight.
“It is sad because whenever an infant orangutan is kept by people, its mother certainly has been killed to get its baby,” Adi said.
YIARI’s keepers typically faced difficulties in controlling orangutans as they neared adulthood, Adi added. Some became violent and had to be transferred to a conservatory.
The foundation has been keeping its orangutans at a temporary shelter while waiting for a permanent camp to be complete on 24 hectares in Sungai Awan village in Ketapang.
The facility will be equipped with a clinic and training enclosure, with most of the area reserved as forest to reintroduce the apes into the wild.
“One individual is now ready to reproduce at the age of 17. The regeneration process is quite long,” Adi said.
Another orangutan habitat is located in a peatland forest in Pematang Gadung, about 30 kilometers south of Ketapang.
Abdurrahman, the head of the Ketapang Biodiversity Keepers (KBK) said that he had planted 2,000 ketiau tree seedlings to help feed the 50 or so orangutans that remained in the area.
“The vegetation in peat forests is dominated by ketiau trees, whose fruit is apparently sought after by orangutans. They help to sow the seeds in other areas from their waste,” said Abdurrahman.
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