Release!

 

I was very, very fortunate that in my last few weeks in Kalimantan I got to witness the release of orangutans back into the wild. This particular release was a little different from their usual releases as the Minster of the Forestry was going to be there. We drove out to a secluded camp on the edge of the national park and right adjacent to a humongous palm oil plantation. The last part of the drive was a solid hour through the palm oil plantation. Ruth and I were standing up in the back of the truck as our driver just flew down these dirt roads at what had to be 60 miles an hour. It was great. All the palm oil was a dark reminder of why the orangutans are in such peril; a stark display of their natural forest that has been destroyed.

There were about one hundred people at the camp to see Dr. Galdikas and the release. There were heaps of press people there for Dr. G and the Forestry Minister. Most of the guys from care centre were there for the release so we spent most of the time hanging out with them. After all the official people gave speeches and took pictures, the whole audience walked to the forest for the release. These orangutans are released in an area of forest that have a few already released orangutans as well. These orangutans come to the feeding platform to see the new orangutans and to see what’s happening. All in all OFI was releasing 10 orangutans, all adults, a mix of males and females. It happened much quicker than I had thought. The other volunteers and I had to jockey for photo positions with the Indonesian press people, Dr. G and a few other officials crowded around the base of the feeding platform as one by one the cages were opened. Hapi, a good friend of ours, actually did the opening of the cages, which was very exciting to see. The cages were opened almost immediately one after another. It was all much faster than I thought it would be. Two by two orangutans raced out of their cages, some straight up into the trees, some first stopping by to eat fruit on the feeding platform. It all happened quickly, and it was just amazing to see the orangutans climbing and eating and enjoying their freedom and space in the forest once again. Orangutans are different from most other primates in that they do rape. Sadly one of the newly released males spent a long while forcing a female to have sex with him. It was an interesting, and a little uncomfortable, thing to watch, but hey, it’s all part of their nature. We spent the next few hours just hanging out in the forest watching the orangutans enjoy their new forest home, taking photographs, and just hanging out with the local assistants.

The assistants follow these orangutans constantly for two weeks to make sure they are doing all right. This whole process was so interesting and a delight to be a part of. It’s a lovely reward after working all day for many months with orangutans that are stuck in cages to see some get release back into the wild.

After the release, we went with Dr. G to another release camp nearby. This camp had many previously released orangutans. They were gorgeous and free and just hanging around. We leisurely took pictures and fed the orangutans and walked around the forest. They had this massive tree there that I thought was one of the coolest trees I had ever seen! It was a great day to spend with friends, Dr. G, and free orangutans.