Many of the older orang-utans at the Sintang facility had been illegally kept for years by their ‘owners’. They require a great deal of rehabilitation.
The care and rehabilitation of adult orang-utans is not easy. However, we strive to rescue as many as we can, give them the best rehabilitation possible and ensure they have the chance at a natural orang-utan life in the forest.
The second in our series of articles on orang-utans at the Sintang centre is about one of the older female orang-utans at the centre, namely Bablu.
Bablu came to SOC 13 months ago (8th May 2014). When she arrived she was very overweight, due to the unhealthy food she had been given, such as soda, chocolate milk, pudding and noodles. In the beginning she did not like normal orang-utan food and would not eat it, except very sweet fruit, like mango.
However, now she already eats a lot of vegetables and fruit and has lost many kilograms by sticking to this ‘proper’ orang-utan diet. Also please notice in the pictures above how dull and unhealthy Bablu’s hair looked when she arrived (image on the left) and how shiny and thicker it now is (image on the right)
Bablu was not the friendliest orang-utan to the others when she first arrived, but she is now getting less grumpy. She gets along much better with Juvi and Matuari. When Matuari , one of the young males, is moved into the enclosure with Bablu, she actually seems rather exited, which makes her a lot more active than she usually is. We are very pleased to see that! The more exercise the better in Bablu’s case and the attentions of a young, attractive male seem to be working wonders with her attitude!
Previously, when Bablu received enrichment she did not understand what it was or what to do with it and was not very excited to find out what it was either. However, now she plays and explores it and sometimes even finds the ‘surprise’ inside. The surprise is often a healthy, wholesome snack!
Learning to become an orang-utan again is not always easy. Bablu has her moods and is rather unpredictable, but we love and care for her and hope she will be ready to adapt to the life in the forest soon.
Please help us, help her.
The SOC Team
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