A collaborative program between :
Sumatra, Indonesia
Wild Sumatran orangutans restricted to northern end of the island
Sumatran Orangutan : Pongo abelii
Suaq, 1993
Ketambe, 1972
Batang Toru, 2006
SOCP MANAGES THE ONLY FIELD SITES FOR
ORANGUTAN RESEARCH IN SUMATRA
Sikundur, 2013
Orangutans are essentially lowland animals but
most major protected areas are high mountains,
with few or no orangutans at all, and no tigers,
elephants or rhinos either.
Status of the
Sumatran
orangutan
Pongo abelii:
6,700
Critically
Endangered
(Singleton et al. 2004,
Wich et al. 2008)
Manchester United’s 80,000 seat Old Trafford Stadium
6,700
orangutans
fit in the
seats in this
pink box!
ONLY CIRCA. 6,700 SUMATRAN ORANGUTANS REMAIN
Monoculture palm oil – Landscape scale
So where is all the
wildlife?
Almost NOTHING
survives the
conversion process
…….do the apes simply move into other
areas, like this?
Most orangutans die
during this process;
deliberately killed or
by starvation
Foto copyright BOS
Foto copyright BOS
Foto copyright BOS
Foto copyright BOS
Foto copyright COP
Cot Simantuk,
Babahrot Dec 2008
Coty,
ABDYA 2008
Robert, Dec
2008. Owner
Isnaini, Mobile
Police, Blang
Jerrango.
Delavita, Dewa Bunien, Vewe. Owner
Abadi, Journalist Metro. Lawe Sikap,
Agara, December 2008
Nando, Dec
2008, Gunung
Merutung Aceh
Selatan
Illegal pets are largely a by-product of
habitat conversion
Bupati Aceh
Barat. April 2010
home of District
Regent.
Jeuram,
Nagan
Raya
April 2010
Marconi,
Des
2009.
Police
Alue Bilie,
Effectively
“refugees” from
forests that no
longer exist.
Medan. Military
Commander
SOCP works with the Conservation Dept to confiscate
illegally held orangutans
Foto: January 2012, Aceh Tamiang
PT Barhuny
SOCP increasingly forced to “rescue” wild
orangutans : from fragmented forest and agroforest
Orangutan
GAPKI Chairman is Director of this & another
company nearby and there have been requests to
have PT Sisirau expelled from the RSPO
Difficult,
expensive,
and HIGH
RISK for
orangutans
After confiscation all orangutans
must undergo health checks and
a minimum quarantine period
Medical Clinic
Laboratory
Isolation cages
Socialisation cages
“Socialisation” cages: After pronounced healthy, orangutans are
transferred to large socialisation cages.
Here they meet other orangutans again,
frequently for the first time since their
mother was killed
LONG TERM CAGES
For orangutans that cannot
be returned to the wild.
Now housing Leuser (blind),
Gober (blind) and twins, Tila
(HepB) and Beckham
(respiratory illness)
URGENTLY NEED
NEW ‘ISLAND’
FACILITY
Looking for land and
funding
Younger more manageable orangutans can also be taught some
basic skills in the quarantine centre: Learning to climb trees
On site x-rays Tattoo
Blood samples
Medical checks &
treatment
No sign of any
real decline!
Possibly even
much worse than
the 1970s!
Numbers entering SOCP quarantine centre (end Aug 2013)
TNI/Military
6% �Mobil
Brigade / Police
7%
"Officials / DPRD (Local Goverment)
6%
Teacher 1%
�Businessman/ enterpreneur 14%
�Villager/Farmer 22%
Prosecutor
0%
�Employee/civil servant
4%
�Citizen/ House Wife 3% �Doctor
1%
Journalist
1%
�NGO 2%
�Bukit Lawang/wild 6%
�Zoo/PPS/ birth 5%
�Malaysia Department 2%
Priest 0%
�No information 18%
Only 3 known prosecutions from
>2800 confiscations since 1970
Julius’ trader
imprisoned for 8
months and 7
million rupiah fine.
First case ever in
Sumatra., Feb
2012.
Law enforcement
must be HIGH
priority.
Who is keeping these “refugees?”
Essential to
evaluate success
Follow each day
from dawn to dusk
(nest to nest)
Data comparable to
wild orangutan
studies
Monthly
assessments of
fruiting phenology
to monitor food
availability
Post release
monitoring
Radio telemetry – New technology for finding and
following released orangutans
But still
having
problems!
New Re-introduction site in Aceh; CA Jantho First orangutans released in April 2011 AND UNTIL NOW 43 ORANGUTAN HAVE RELEASE
Kiskis (above) and Pibi when
first released from their cages.
April 2011
Reintroduction of orangutans also helps conserve the habitat,
important also for tigers, elephants, and many other species
Sangir and Coconut
SEUMAYAM
Now one of the “founding fathers” of an
entirely new wild population
Leuser
Gober and
twins,
Ganteng and
Ginting
Cataract
Surgery
August 2012
Gober
Orangutan
Haven will
provide a new
home for
unreleasable
orangutans and
SO MUCH
MORE!
Earth 4 Orangutans
Tripa in March 2012
Most of these (98 fires) in just
9 days in March 2012
Tripa Peat Swamps: Hotspots 2001 to 26 March 2012
Forest clearance
continues inTripa
despite legal
cases. This
orangutan
captured in PT
SPS2 Concession
February 2013
High orchid diversity above1000 m
Our survival
depends on….
Thank you very much!