It’s my last day volunteering at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine, where I have been doing orangutan enrichment for the last 6 months. I am watching Samsu and Bangow sit on opposite ends of their swing unwrapping ferns wrapped around peanuts and durian jelly. The enrichment team wrapped them earlier this morning. As they… Continue reading Six Months of Enrichment: Insights and Experiences
Month: February 2011
Gibbs the Gibbon makes a move
The young male Agile Gibbon who we have been calling Gibbs has left his much larger orangutan cousins at the OFI Care Center this week. This small, arboreal ape is moving to a new home, the Kalaweit Center in nearby Palangka Raya. This is a special facility for gibbons where he will be able to… Continue reading Gibbs the Gibbon makes a move
Otok – Orangutan of the Month
Resting in the heights of his hammock, Otok is king, towering over the other orangutans in the veterinary clinic and bestowing his caregivers with aloof glances. His unsociable ways are renowned in the Care Center since Otok seems to exult in solitude, cocooned within his precious hammock. Even when offered fruit, he will simply fling… Continue reading Otok – Orangutan of the Month
Not your typical diet
Every morning for the past month, Catarina Antão has been busy supplementing diets for sixteen underweight orangutans by providing them with “bubur” (porridge). A recently qualified veterinarian from Portugal, she volunteered at the Care Center for six weeks and was interested in improving the diet of the orangutans, especially the underweight ones. Facilitating weight gain is important for a number of reasons. Low body weight could weaken orangutan immune systems and make them susceptible to illness.