Rangas!

 That red hair

Shining

Glistening

It’s International Orang-utan Caring Week

(12^th – 20^th November)

It’s incredibly scary and sad to know

that the orang-utan is on the edge...

It’s very close to extinction.

A few years ago, I stumbled on the

 Australian Orangutan Project’s webpage.

They’re a not-for-profit group.

They look after the rainforest,

work with the community

and rehabilitate orang-utans,

reintroducing them to their natural habitat.

The AOP work with different groups. 

At the moment, there are

over 2000 orphaned orang-utans

in care centres in Borneo and Sumatra.

That’s a lot of babies!

Protecting the rainforests is

the best way to save the orang-utans

 (and all of the animals

living there... tigers, rhinos...).

We’ve ruined 80% of the orang-utans’

rainforest in the last 20 years.

Orangutans are amazingly like us... 

97% of their DNA is the same as ours. 

They have the intelligence

of a 6 year old child. 

They can live for 60 years...

if there is a rainforest to live in.

So...

Could you say “No” to this little face?

He arrived at a rehabilitation Centre

in January 2010. 

He was 6 months old. 

His name is Wigly. 

His mother was young and

unable to care for him,

so he became sick. 

He became very attached to a blanket

and would carry it everywhere,

 crying if anyone took it from him. 

He even falls asleep sucking his thumb!

If Wigly sneaks into your heart

and won’t leave your thoughts

You could adopt him! 

For $55 a year,

you could adopt Wigly.

Several years ago,

I couldn’t say “No” to Roy...

From a young, almost helpless baby,

to an ever increasingly independent

young orang-utan, I have been able

to follow Roy’s progress. 

It seems he is almost ready to wander

into the rainforest and start

a new life there.

I didn’t say “No” to Lear, either.

He is one of the naughtiest orang-utans

in the centre. 

He is curious and energetic...

he takes things...

he bites...

At the moment, he is still too interested

in the people around him,

but the people at his care centre

are trying to change that.

Adopting an orang-utan and

following their progress can be a lot of fun.

I hope we can get their numbers up

so we can celebrate Orang-utan Awareness Week –

International Orang-utan Caring Week

 for years to come!

Orangutans Are Back

Roy and Lear

A few years ago, I adopted two cute orang-utans. Their little faces were filled with their huge, round eyes. Their limbs were long, skinny and covered with fine fur. Now, the two orang-utans are older and almost ready to think about leaving their rehabilitation centre... they are preparing to move off through the trees to an independent life in the forest.

I adopted Lear. Lear was a young male who was four months old when he arrived at the rehabilitation centre. A local villager had found him and then brought him to the centre. Now, he is four and a half years old and weighs eleven and a half kilograms.

This is what the rehabilitation centre have said about Lear: Lear is a little cheeky and likes to play jokes and he looks funny too! He loves to grab onto people’s clothes, steal their hats and pull at them. He has a big smile and likes to bite everything he can. You can’t but like him and he has lots of orang-utan friends. His best friends at the Care Centre are Hayes and Morgan, two other orphans. His favourite foods are rambutan and oranges. His carers are teaching him about the best and tastiest fruits.

The other orang-utan I adopted is named Roy. He’s five now. When Roy arrived at the centre, he was 10 months old. He had been confiscated by officials, which saved him from a life lived in a cage as a pet or perhaps being sent overseas to be sold.

He weighs 14 kilograms now.

This is the information I have on Roy: Roy is very playful and boisterous and loves to play rough with his friends Sidney, Tim and Dora. He has fun with his carers, teasing them whenever he can. He loves to climb and is very active, so he has no trouble finding his way in the forest. He knows how to make a nest to rest in during the day and knows where to find all the different foods in the forest. Roy was brought to the Care Centre at the age of 10 months after being confiscated by the Police and over the years he has learnt how to be independent. He is a fast learner and loves his food.

The future of the orang-utans is still depressing. Extinction in the wild is likely in the next 10 years for Sumatran Orang-utans and soon after for Bornean Orang-utans. Their intelligence is comparable to that of a five or six year old child. I first adopted the orang-utans when I had a young niece and a baby nephew. The ages of the orang-utans and the ages of my niece and nephew are close. We’re so closely related to these beautiful animals and it has been fun hearing how quickly Roy and Lear are growing up. I adopted these two orang-utans through the organisation known as The Australian Orang-utan Program.

This is their website: http://www.orangutan.org.au/

Orangutans

We were inside the Gomantong Bird Nest Soup Cave in Sabah. Local men were paid well to climb bamboo ladders stretching 90 metres up into the cave. They were collecting the nests of the birds, to make soup. The white saliva from the swifts is a celebrated delicacy. A wooden path had been built along the inner edge of the cave for the tourists to walk around and see the cave. The path was covered in swift poo.

The stench was incredible! My enthusiasm became a little forced after I’d used up the last of my fresh air – though I was a little in awe of the brave men on those ladders.

Suddenly, there were shouts and calls from outside the cave.

After a little confusion with the language, we realised that an orang-utan was outside. We rushed out to get a glimpse of it. At first I didn’t see her, but then... a rustle in the leaves... and a long, hairy arm reached out. Her body was mostly hidden, but I could see a definite outline.

Goosebumps joined me in this amazing moment. Another rustling of leaves and we could see her baby. Realising that I may never again be lucky enough to see an orang-utan in the wild, I was really reluctant to be pulled away from her. Walking away, we Ieft her and her child hidden in the tree.

An estimated 15000 orang-utans exist in the wild. It is anticipated that they will be extinct in the wild within ten years.