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!