13 orangutans from Ancol are to be rehabilitated at BOS East Kalimantan

THREE of 13 orangutans who were previously tourist attractions in Ancol recreational park, Jakarta, will be returned to their home land, Kalimantan, on Tuesday by Garuda flight GA 518, at 17.20 from the cargo terminal of Soekarno Hatta airport in Jakarta. The three orangutans are Tizon (9 years old), Bijay (10 years old) and Vera (13 years old). They will first go into rehabilitation at the Orangutan Reintroduction Centre of BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival) Foundation in Wanariset/Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan, before being released into the wild back in their habitat.

This was explained by the Head of the Natural Resources Conservation Buerau of Jakarta (BKSDA) of Jakarta, Dr. Samedi on Monday August 14, in Jakarta. He explained that after the identification process was completed by the appropriate agencies together, which were in this case BKSDA DKI, BOS Foundation, NGO LASA (Lembaga Advokasi Satwa, Wildlife Advocacy Institute), Pro-Fauna, ISAW, and Sumatra Orangutan Conservation Project (SOCP), the 13 orangutan were identified as indeed originating from Kalimantan.

"We also carried out health examinations. Of the thirteen orangutans, eight were confirmed healthy, and one of them is in fact pregnant. The first group to be moved to the rehabilitation center will consist of three orangutans. Four more will be transported on Thursday, August 17. The five remaining were blood tested and X-rayed already on Monday and they were confirmed positive for TBC, so temporarily, while they are being treated they must remain in Jakarta for their recovery. The pregnant one will be kept safe at the Wildlife Survival Centre (Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa : PPS) Cikananga, Sukabumi," explained Samedi.

Meanwhile at the same time and place, the Manager of the Orangutan Reintroduction Center of BOS Foundation in Wanariset, Paramita Ananda, said his people were ready to take on and rehabilitate the orangutans from Ancol. They will be placed in the new cages at Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan.

"We are ready. If this offer had occurred previously, maybe we wouldn`t have been able to accept them. Because of the sanitation conditions at Wanariset, we are not able to rehabilitate any more orangutans once we have reached capacity. But now we have the new cages at Samboja, everything is ready and fulfills the standards of animal welfare," explained Mita. There are 10 adult and 3 baby orangutans in this case; the babies are under 2 years old and the result of breeding at Ancol. He also added that BOS have provided one medical technician from the Foundation, Drh. Heru Susilo, to accompany the orangutans on their return home.

Since 2005

Meanwhile, Irma Hermawati from LASA explained that these facts came to light in the middle of 2005. LASA was given recorded evidence of the orangutans at Ancol being used in a wildlife show as a tourist attraction. After investigation and double checking by Wild Animal Rescue Center Tegal Alur, the orangutan show was still going. Ancol itself had been appointed the status of Conservation Institution by the Forestry Department in 2003. But unfortunately, at that time in Indonesia there were no clear regulations about the limitations to the form of an "animal show", so Ancol promoted their orangutan show as an attraction for visitors.

LASA then sent out a protest to the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Natural Conservation (Dirjen Perlindungan Hutan dan Konservasi Alam : PHKA) on 24 May, 2006 which received a positive response from BKSDA DKI. BKSDA mentioned that they had followed up by sending out the protest to the director of the Gelanggang Samudera Jaya Ancol Company both formally and informally (via telephone). Ancol made it known that they were prepared to immediately stop all attractions that were not in accordance with the principles of animal welfare. On 4 June, 2006 BKSDA DKI finally shut down the show.

Difficult to Monitor

"According to Ancol sources, the orangutans came from members of the community who were no longer able to look after them as pets. Ancol was very cooperative and not at all inconvenienced by surrendering the orangutan to be returned to their place of origin," said Samedi, adding that the management of Gelanggang Samudera Jaya Ancol needed to focus on activities that were in line with their area of expertise, which oceanography and marine life.

The Executive Director of BOS Foundation, Aldrianto Priadjati, said orangutans are endemic wildlife in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Such creatures are protected nationally by Species Conservation Laws and internationally by CITES. It must also be understood that trade in wild animals is difficult to detect.

"There needs to be a legal solidification of the sort that was done when the government declared war on illegal logging. But until now, we alone value all the maximum efforts being done by institutions involved with saving rare wildlife in Indonesia," he explained.

Samedi also admitted that trade and smuggling of wild animals was very difficult to control when remembering that Indonesian territory is so vast and made up of thousands of islands. "There needs to be a shared vision and solid cooperation between law enforcement agencies to prevent this," he said. (BOS)