Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program

August 2018

Code REDAn e-newsletter from your friends in West Kalimantan

Dear Friends and Supporters, August has been a busy month, both in West Kalimantanand for myself. Our office has been full of studentinterns working hard and celebrating InternationalOrangutan Day. After returning from Indonesia, I headedoff to Africa where I attended the InternationalPrimatological Society Congress (IPS) in Nairobi,Kenya!

In this issue of Code Red, Hendri starts us off with adescription of his first time visiting Cabang PantiResearch Station and joining in the Field Courseoffered by Dr. Andy Marshall, from the University ofMichigan, and Pak Endro Setiawan, from the GunungPalung National Park office. Our second article detailssome of the orangutan behaviors I witnessed thissummer.

Issue: 68

In This Issue:

Green Paradise

-

Party in the Mango Trees -

Soundscapes of theRainforest

-

Ian Redmond Award forConservation

Soundscapes of the

Rainforest

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Our sidebar has a link to a special recording of thesounds of the rainforest, made by Hendri during thefield course. At the IPS Congress I was so pleased toaccept on behalf of our Habitat Protection Manager,Edi Rahman, the Ian Redmond Award for Great apeConservation. He is extremely honored to receive thisaward and we have shared his thank you video.Congratulations Edi!

The IPS Congress was a great opportunity to connectwith other primatologists and share both our researchand conservation work. My post doc, Erin Kane, andgraduate student, Andrea DiGiorigo, gave presentationson their work on orangutan feeding behavior andnutrition. I gave one talk on sexual coercion inorangutans and how it may impact female foragingbehavior. I also was an invited speaker in a symposiumon the value of long term research stations, sponsoredby the National Geographic Society. Additionally, Ispoke about our efforts to combat the illegal pet tradeas a panelist in a special roundtable forum on this topic.I learned a lot as well and returned with many newideas to helps advance both the study and conservationof wild orangutans in Indonesia. Sincerely,

Cheryl Knott, PhDExecutive Director Gunung Palung Orangutan ConservationProgram (GPOCP)

Green ParadiseBy Hendri Gunawan, GPOCP Environmental EducationField Officer

I was born and raised in Kalimantan on the island ofBorneo. This region is also known as the lungs of theworld because of our healthy forests! As a native, I amvery proud of these beautiful landscapes, one of whichis Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP), which isconsidered one of the most biologically diversenational parks in Indonesia. Although GPNP is not huge(at 108,000 hectares), we can find eight types ofecosystems ranging from mountain forests to coastalmangroves and the Park is home to hundreds of speciesof animals and thousands of species of plants. Thisdiversity provides quite a surprise for newcomers whofirst set foot in this National Park. Gunung Palung

While visiting CPRS,Hendri woke up earlyto capture the soundsof the rainforest. Sit

back, relax, and enjoythis special sound byte!

Soundscapes fromGunung Palung National

Park

Ian Redmond Award

for Conservation

Our Habitat ProtectionManager, Edi Rahman,was recently awarded

the Ian Redmond Awardfor Conservation at the

InternationalPrimatological Society

meeting. While hecould not make the

event, he was able tosend a thank you

video! CongratulationsEdi and thanks for your

hard work anddedication toorangutans!

GPOCP for Ian RedmondAward

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National Park contains the Cabang Panti ResearchStation (CPRS), one of the oldest research stations inIndonesia, which is still very active today. Manystudents from within Indonesia and around the worldhave conducted research for their bachelors, masters,and PhD degrees. Cabang Panti is known for hostingsome of the worlds most renowned primatologists andscientists. It never occurred to me that I might get tovisit this special place, but then I was invited to attendthe Field Course offered by One Forest Project and theNational Park office.

During my 12 days at CPRS I joined a series of lecturesand activities learning about tropical forest ecology andvertebrate survey techniques led by Dr. Andy Marshallfrom the University of Michigan. We learned about theecology of plants and vertebrates of tropical rainforests, how to install camera traps and different plantcharacteristics. We also had an introduction toscientific research methods, including how to followwild orangutans and how to preform accurate statisticalanalyses. There were about 15 participants involved inthis field course, each with varying degrees ofexpertise. At first, we did not know each other verywell, but we soon became close friends.

Field Course participants at Cabang Panti ResearchStation. Photo credit One Forest Project.

At the beginning of the course I heard Dr. Marshall,who we were now calling Pak Andy, make a commentbefore we started the long hike. He said "I feel like Iam home when I am here." At the time I was curiousabout what he was referring to and why he said it, butI let it go. During the 14 km (8.7 miles) hike in wepassed through several types of ecosystems, rangingfrom peat swamp forest, freshwater swamp forest,then lowland forest, and eventually to highland forest.

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On our journey, we found many large plants with verytight canopies! It was so hard for sunlight to penetrateto the forest floor. We also saw some orangutan nestsand enjoyed the melodious sounds of bird and crickets.They seemed to accompany us the entire way to CPRS!Upon arrival, I was amazed by the atmosphere of thecamp, in the thick jungle, there were 3 simple butspacious buildings set up to accommodate theresearchers and their laboratories. The camp issurrounded by giant trees and a clear pristine riverflows by out front.

Hendri marveling at the size of the trees found withinGunung Palung National Park. Photo credit Hendri

Gunawan.

In the field course, we were divided into four teams,my team was called "fungi." Of the various activitiesconducted, my favorite was the wildlife survey. Ispecifically enjoyed this because I could wander aroundthe forest, enjoy the fresh air, and encounter variousanimals. We started the surveys early in the morning,when many animals are most active. I was able to hearthe beautiful sounds of birds, crickets, and a hornbillmaking a call! I also heard a red leaf monkey making hispresence known in the jungle. My team was captivated

by these sounds as we followed them throughout thetrail system. But before we knew it, we were lost! Theday wore on and we had not found our way back tocamp, but then we found some of the researchersobserving wild orangutans. I am happy we stumbledupon the researchers as we were able to witness a rareevent. The famous orangutan, Walimah, was copulatingwith Bosman, one of the resident males! And not faraway, in another tree was Berani, an adolescent femaleorangutan. For about 15 minutes I was able to observethis intimate behavior and enjoy my first sighting ofwild orangutans!

Hendri taking survey data during the Field Course. Photocredit One Forest Project.

I also gained a lot of other useful knowledge andexperiences from my two weeks at CPRS. Our teaminstalled a camera trap on a small tree by the river, andas a result we recorded a mouse deer passing by atnight to take a drink from the river during our shorttime there. The following day, Pak Andy invited us tohike to the summit of Mount Gunung. We started earlyin the morning because the trip is quite far anddifficult. During the hike I learned that there are morethan 90 types of Dipterocarpacae trees, known in our

local language as meranti-merantian, in GPNP, andsome of these trees can reach 30 meters in height. Aswe hiked up we also encountered Poteria trees andsome varieties of mountain pine. Hiking higher andhigher, I noticed the trees got smaller and smaller, andthey were also covered in more moss. In the middle ofmy hike, I found a plant that is very unique, it hasstems, internodes and leaves like bamboo but growslike a creeper, somewhat like rattan. I also discoveredsome sun bear claw marks on tree trunks! Wow, theseexperiences made me extremely intrigued and curiousto learn more!

One Forest Project Research Assistant, Landah, showingthe Field Course participants how to set up a camera

trap. Photo credit One Forest Project.

By the end of my trip to the beautiful Gunung PalungNational Park, with all of its charm and biodiversity, Iunderstood why Pak Andy calls this place home. Thetropical rainforests of GPNP are just a piece of the'Green Paradise' Borneo has to offer and I can truly saythis is my home.

Views near the summit of Mount Gunung. Photo creditHendri Gunawan.

Party in the Mango TreesBy Cheryl Knott, GPOCP Executive Director Every once in awhile instead of searching fororangutans, they come to you! To our surprise anddelight, this summer one of our older females, Bibi,and her baby, Bayas, included our camp in their circuitof fruiting trees they were visiting. Imagine being ableto watch orangutans while sitting on the ping pongtable having your morning coffee! Bibi discovered (orprobably she already knew!) that in the clearingbetween our camp buildings we have a selection oftasty forest fruit trees - a mango, a breadfruit and alangsat. All happened to be fruiting in July. Bibi andBayas spent many hours feeding in these treesseemingly oblivious to our camp full of people. What atreat for the Field Course participants (led by ProfessorAndy Marshall and Pak Endro Setiawan from the GunungPalung National Park office) to be able to see a motherand baby up close on their visit to Cabang Panti. Wehad to convince them that it's usually not this easy!

Three-year-old male Bayas. Photo © Russell Laman

I knew Bibi was very habituated, but I've never seen anorangutan so comfortable with that many people. Sheeven made her nest a few meters away - right abovethe trail between the camp and the bathroom! No 3am wake up time would be needed the nextmorning! It's taken many, many years of following wildorangutans at Cabang Panti to reach the point wherethey will allow us to observe them at such closequarters. Orangutans are very wary of people andunhabituated individuals run away, vocalize and eventhrow the occasional branch at us. This doesn't teachus much about their natural behaviors. So, we put inthe many hours needed to allow them to becomeaccustomed to our presence and to realize we are not athreat. This is one of the great values of long termresearch, we can follow the lives of individual animalswho allow us the privilege to observe their world.

Dr. Cheryl Knott watches and orangutan with fieldassistant Toto. Photo © Tim Laman.

Bibi's world often includes her older daughter,Berani. We spent many days this summer also following

Berani, and her seemingly constant companion, theunflanged male Bosman. One of the other favoritespots of the orangutans was a cluster of huge mangotrees - two different species - a bit further afield fromcamp. Most rainforest fruits do not have domesticatedvarieties - but mangos are one of the exceptions.These huge, tasty fruits provided a feast for theorangutans, many times feeding on them well pastdark. Although orangutans are often thought of assolitary, they do spend time together when they can,and it's actually not unusual to see several together in abig fruit tree. They also have their own social drama -as we saw repeatedly when Walimah joined the group.Although intent on following Berani, Bosman also matedwith Walimah when she'd come into the mangotree. But, Berani, wanted nothing to do with her, andwould flee whenever Walimah approached, giving upher choice spot.

A view into the big mango tree! Photo © Tim Laman.

These interactions teach us much about the relativestatus of the individuals in the population, withWalimah being dominant to Berani. Although therainforest is huge, fruit trees with these big crops arenot common, and may become a contestedresource. This summer, however, I also witnessed anexample of turn taking that I'd never seen before. Oneof the days when I was following Berani and Bosman,Berani spotted a small tree with ripe fruit. Climbing tothe top of it, her weight nearly pulled the treeover. Bosman just sat on an adjacent tree watchingher. When Berani left the tree, she swayed it backtowards Bosman, climbed out over his head, and theyswitched places. It was his turn to feed and hers topatiently watch. They did this several times. I don'tthink I've ever seen this kind of cooperation betweenunrelated adults. These great red apes teach mesomething new every time!

Gunung Palung Orangutan Project Research Team -Summer, 2018. Photo © Tim Laman.

Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP) http://saveGPorangutans.org savegporangutans@gmail.com

Orangutan Photographs © Tim Laman

All other photographs © GPOCP

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