Happy Moments in Batikap

Happy Birthday Astro

In December 2013, we are delighted to celebrate Astrid’s son, Astro’s first birthday.  Turning one year old, Astro is growing more active and already beginning to learn many skills from his mother.

During November 2013, the Team spotted Astro and Astrid 975 m along transect Joloi Anton.  This location is pretty far from where the pair was last located, but it is a great area with an abundance of wild fruits.

Astrid teaches her son how to choose the correctnatural foods they need by offering him many kinds of fruit to try.  Astro will then give each different fruit a quick taste then generally throw it away.  If he likes the fruit, he usually picks it up again and continues eating.

Other than learning with his Mother, Astro is now also confident enough to play by himself. The Monitoring Team observed him playing as far as two or three meters away from Astrid in a tree. Astrid clearly adores her son and to make sure no harm comes his way when he is playing by himself, she watches him attentively.

Mita and Tehang’s Friendship

Mita and Tehang are often seen feeding together.  They seem learn from each other, and often sit together closely in a tree.  When Tehang finds a new food, Mita watches as Tehang first tries the new food item and her reaction seems to inform Mita on the verdict, and vice versa.

Once, Tehang was building a nest earlier than Mita.  Mita tried to follow and build her nest next to Tehang’s.  For some reason, Tehang didn’t appear comfortable and left.  After Tehang left, Mita approached the nest built by Tehang and climbed in.  Five minutes later, Mita looked also uncomfortable and left the nest.  After Mita left the nest, she sat and watched Tehang in her new nest.  Finally Mita got up and built her new nest next to Tehang’s.  Tehang is really good at building nest.  Hers are always built with extra branches as the floor and make shift roof.  This habit has been adapted also by Mita. These two best friends just never stop learning together!

 

Gundul Looking Healthy and Gaining Weight!

Gundul was observed around Monnu when the Monitoring team saw him in a Durian tree.  In the two hours of observations, Gundul spent the whole time devouring Durian which were unripe.

After living in the Bukit Batikap Conservation Forest for one year, Gundul looks healthy and fat.  Her stomach looks big; we suspect that she may be pregnant since not so long ago, she spent quite some time with Jamiat.

Teks: Ike Naya Silana

Foto: Ike Naya Silana

Get Well Soon, Danur!

After being reintroduced into the wild in mid-February 2013, Danur has shown amazing independence skills. This male orangutan with fully flanged cheekpads aged 17 years old is a dominant adult with a large build weighing in at 82.2 kgs. Danur, who is believed to be able to swim or at least wade, fell ill in early December, but thanks to the treatment he received from the Medical Team, he is now recovering well.

Danur has shown amazing independence skills -by Ike

Danur Seemed Unwell

The team has been observing Danur closely since September 29. They found Danur in the Posu Teneng area, in a sangkuang tree.  There were many orangutan nests in the tree. The next day, Danur was still in the same tree which had numerous ripe fruit. At that time, the team was also being busy with a new orangutan release event, but they were still observing Danur. The team found that Danur had moved to an area with an abundance of rattan and bamboo shoots, not far away from the sangkuang tree. Late afternoon, he was already back sitting in the sangkuang tree.

Vet Adhy tried to give Danur milk -by Ike

On December 2, the team observed Danur closely again.  His condition was concerning and he had lost body weight. Vet Adhy Maruli tried to approach him and offer him bananas in order to have a closer look at his condition.  His limbs worked well when being used to move around, but it didn’t make the team less concerned.  Danur had remained in the same place, Karangan Posu Teneng, for a few days now.  Some old nests were drying out and the fresh wild fruits were also running out, but Danur hadn’t moved anywhere. He stayed there until December 4.

Medical Intervention

On December 6, Danur’s condition had deteriorated.  He looked weak, his eyes were sunken and hollow and he hardly moved, even though when dusk came he still tried to build a nest in his tree.

Danur was already in his nest, we believe eating sangkuang fruit. But after waiting for 15 minutes until there was no visible movement, the team decided to intervene. Vet Adhy, assisted by Ike (PRM Coordinator) and technician Ibnu Marjono tried to give Danur bananas, corn and milk, which included medication (anti-worm and blood booster).

Danur rested and received food through the Monitoring Team. -by Ike

After finishing the milk, bananas, and corn, Danur defecated and urinated. His feces was full of sangkuang seeds mixed with blood.  After analysis, the Medical Team found Balantidium +3 and eggs of Strongiloides sp.  Both of which can be found in wild orangutans, but high levels can have serious implications.

Get Well Soon, Danur

On December 7, Danur started to recover, despite still being weak and lethargic. The Medical team continued to provide him with food supplements (rambutan, sugar cane, milk, and coconut) and medication (anti-worm and blood booster). That day, Danur finished four bottles of milk, six litres of water, 1.5 kgs of rambutan, three sugar canes, and three young coconuts. He rested and received food through the Monitoring Team. The next day, he looked so much better.  His eyes were not as hollow and his cheekpads were puffy. For the next five days, the team continued to provide him with food supplements and medicines.

Get well soon, Danur! -by Ike

According to the Medical Team, the parasites inhabiting Danur’s body were normal and could be found in any other orangutans. However, when the host’s immunity is decreased they can grow way too quickly.  For now, the Medical Team will keep observing him closely to make sure he has recovered fully. Get well soon, Danur!  We’ll be watching over you closely!

Source: Batikap Daily Monitoring, Monitoring Information and Treatment by drh. Adhy Maruly and Ike N. Nayasilana

Text by by: Monterado Fridman, Communication and Education Coordinator of Nyaru Menteng

Photo by: Ike