We had a bit of a surprise during sun bear husbandry yesterday (Fri 13th) when Ting San came walking out of the jungle and inspected our cleaning work in the night dens of the sun bears on the hill. She was very casual in her exploring, as if she was trying to look inconspicuous and as if she belonged there. It was tempting to give her a broom and point out the areas we hadn't attended to yet. However, she continued on her way and walked back off into the jungle, followed swiftly by Richard and Apai Jugah.

It transpired that Ghanti, apparently tired of only having her son for company in the jungle, had visited the large orang-utan enclosure that morning and assisted the escape of both Ting San and Ali by offering them a branch carefully broken and lowered into the enclosure to pull them out. The youngsters literally jumped at the opportunity for a day's outing.

Ali spent most of the day in Ghanti's company, close to the centre at the feeding platform area. We were able to observe them, and it was a pleasure to do so. It was the first time we have seen Ghanti's son separate significantly from his mum - for most of the time he was metres away from her wrestling with Ali. Ghanti was keeping a careful eye on the duo from below, but she was clearly uninterested in joining in with the rough and tumble play. She was quite determined to keep Ali out as a play-mate for her son for the day though, as she aggressively chased the orang-utan keeper, Eddie, out of the feeding platform area when he dared to approach Ali to tempt him back.

At the end of the day around 4pm, Ali was more than happy to come back into the orang-utan dens with his favourite keeper, Apai Sandi, and it looked as though Ghanti had enough of him by then too! One child is clearly more than enough for an orang-utan mother. It was very nice of her to bring the youngsters out for the day though. Ting San remains at large.

As of Monday (16^th), the four youngest orang-utan are off into the jungle for a 10 day stretch, which will be the longest period of time they have spent in the jungle. So Ali will be back in the forest then, though this time in a slightly more controlled, supervised way! It will be great if Ting San will stay out until the team head out to the ranger station on Monday, and she can also stay with the orangs for the duration of their rehabilitation training this month. Ting San has missed out on previous trips as she has bitten a couple of the keepers and become a little hard to manage safely. However, if she is in the forest already, it should be a simple matter of providing food for her and providing a safety net should she need to use it.

Enjoy the accompanying photos of Ali, Ghanti and baby sharing each other’s company in the forest.

Little Fat Bear arrived at Matang in April 2010, and quickly elevated to the status of my favourite bear. Partly this is because she is exceptionally cute – her name describes her perfectly and though she is full adult, she is the smallest sun bear I have seen. The Bornean sub-species is smaller than the sun bears of mainland South East Asia anyway, and sun bears are of course the smallest of all the bears, but LFB, with her short legs and dumpy stature, takes ‘small bear’ to another level. Needless to say, she is also cutely rotund. However, it is her personality more than her appearance that stole my heart.

Up until April 2010, LFB had not known a happy existence. For 16 years she had been kept in a small, bare cage with a concrete floor. No enrichment, no variety, high stress and high stereotypic frequency characterised these years. 16 years is easy to say, but think about what you were doing and where you were 16 years ago, and all that you have done in the intervening years. LFB was simply standing in a cage for all that time. Her teeth have also been clipped, a horribly painful process carried out no doubt to ensure she would be a safer pet as a cub (I have often wondered why people do not opt for a goldfish, should they want a safe pet, rather than a bear). You would expect a bear with this background at age 20+ to be a broken individual, massively stressed with little in their behavioural repertoire other than pacing backwards and forwards.

However, this bear soon revealed that she retained many natural behaviours – in her naturalistic, outdoor enclosure she excelled at foraging, climbing, digging, tearing into wood for termites, and was even seen sleeping up in the trees one afternoon, a natural behaviour not expressed by any of our other captive bears, from whom we have been trying to elicit natural behaviour for years! She proved very adept at opening internal cage doors, and would often let herself and fellow bears out of their individual cages to explore the whole night-den area. She has such a calm, insatiable curiosity, and it still amazes me that she did not lose this through the years she was kept in such poor captivity. Her instances of stereotypy are minimal – when she finishes foraging and eating, she prefers instead to lean against a comfortable tree and take a nap. It is always a pleasure to observe her.

A few weeks ago, two of the keepers were talking to each other in front of the quarantine area, when a hairy mammal passed between them. ‘How did that dog get in here?’ one questioned (they are known as ‘dog bears’ with good reason). ‘IT’S A BEAR!’ the other replied – this is the actual exchange that took place. It transpired that while climbing a tree that was a little small, LFB climbed high enough to pull the tree over far enough to reach a tree on the outside of the enclosure wall. She then went for a calm, curious wander past George and Peter’s cages (who were not at all calm), past the hornbills and gibbons, and back down the road to the small bridge. Though slowly being surrounded by keepers, she showed no panic, and seemed pleased that they had bought a jar of honey with them (they are also known as the ‘honey bears’, also with good reason!). She happily followed the honey trail being laid on the floor, and wandered into an as-yet unoccupied gibbon cage. Here she was content to explore, much to the neighbouring gibbons’ displeasure and panic, and lick up every drop of honey that had been spilled to tempt her. She was then encouraged into a transport cage by the keepers and wheeled back where she came from.

All in all, it was a rather enriching afternoon for her, and for all the keepers involved of course. Enjoy the accompanying photos.

This month finally saw the clouded leopard get her upgrade into the long-awaited new enclosure that has been under construction for the last 8 months. Though two cages have been completed for the two individuals that were surrendered to Matang, tragically the youngest of the two died weeks ago. Both individuals suffered from seizures around Christmas time, which were attributed to acute hyponatraemia – an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the serum is lower than normal, generally caused by excessive fluid consumption. With extensive veterinary treatment, they did recover from this, though the youngest did not fully. Unfortunately he eventually died last month.  We have not seen hyponatraemia in any of our animals prior to this, and the severity of the condition, which left both cats in a coma for a short while, led us to think that we may lose both of them. It was very sad to lose the youngest one, just weeks before he got to try out his new living space. It does mean that the older female can now spread out through both enclosures, and enjoy a more substantial upgrade in living space.

The transfer went very smoothly, though when the leopard was released into the outdoor space she made directly for the entrance to the night den area. As we suspected, she appeared quite daunted by the enclosure and was keen to enter a space more akin in size to the cage she had been kept in. This discomfort towards the enclosure highlights the difficulties in releasing animals that have been kept captive; we tend to assume that an animal will be grateful and happy (anthropomorphic though it is) to be moved from a small cage to a large enclosure, or from an enclosure/cage to the wild but the move into larger space is often highly stressful for an animal that has become accustomed to small, secure areas.  

We kept a close eye on her over the following days, and she actually adapted very quickly to the new space, to the extent that we had to restrict her to the night den on a couple of occasions due to her immense excitement, and her insistence on exploring every tree trunk and every corner, at high speed, was causing her to massively overheat! I am looking forward to trying out different enrichment devices for her, and seeing her make the most of the athletic prowess possessed by these cats – they are the best tree climbers of the felines, with huge paws and a very long tail serving as adaptations to aid their arboreal lifestyle. They can also jump incredibly high; there have been no opportunities yet for this clouded leopard to express these natural behaviours, so it is very exciting and rewarding to observe her in a space with the capacity for climbing, hunting, jumping, scent marking, prowling and of course, sleeping, which is an important past time for all cats. Now she has the means to sleep off of the ground on branches and in trees, which must be much more comfortable for her, and is much more in tune with natural behaviour.

Our huge thanks go out to all volunteers that chipped in to help this building project, from the first bricks that were wheel-barrowed to the site to the enrichment structures that were built inside to finish the area last month. Many of you developed a soft spot for this beautiful creature, and I hope that some of you will return to see her in her new environment in the future. For now though, you will have to make do with the photographs posted to accompany this blog!

By Natasha Beckerson

Matang has recently become home to a dominant male pigtail macaque, who has affectionately become known as Fang. He is in good condition, with the exception of his left forearm and hand which, as you can see from the accompanying photo, is quite disfigured. He has been checked over under sedation by a vet and though we had assumed the arm to be broken, it is actually in one piece. The bones are, however, quite badly twisted. Due to it only being this one area that is effected, we ruled out any kind of birth defect or done disease and hypothesise that this monkey has been kept on some kind of restraint – either chain or very strong rope – for a number of years. As he has grown up, we guess that continual tugging at and fighting against his restraint has caused this severe disfigurement of his forearm.

He still has limited gripping capability, can walk on it seemingly without discomfort and can weight-bear, though he favours his other arm. He also has a massively extended right canine, though the vet assures us this kind of over-growth is not too rare and causes no pain or disadvantage.

This brings to total of dominant male pigtails at Matang up to three, with the total population numbering ten. Of these, just two are female, and this presents a huge challenge in terms of socialisation.

 In the wild, these macaques are highly sociable and troops, which can number from 9 to 80 individuals, are composed in the majority of females. Complex social structures are adhered to within these groups, and relationships are maintained through a variety of behaviours including gestures, vocalisations and physical contact. Groups are made up of a select few adult males, with one assuming dominance as the alpha. There is a linear structure of dominance, which is characteristic of macaque societies in general. Many adult females are present within a group, and it is structured according to matrilineal ranks. There is a structure of rank both within and between matrilines. Females remain within the group at maturity, and their rank is determined genetically; those born into a high ranking line will assume a position of high rank, and therefore power, within the group.

Clearly, our male: female ratio at Matang is converse to the ideal. When our new macaque cage has been constructed and we are looking to socialise these monkeys, we may well have to pick just one dominant male to reign over the group. Hopefully, he will keep all the younger males in check – in the wild, pigtails macaques have been documented to actively ‘police’ their troops to ensure fights do not get too serious, and this role does not just fall to the dominant male. Successful socialisation is a vital step towards being able to release any of these macaques – solitary individuals, if released, gravitate towards humans and end up being ‘pests’, and dealt with accordingly.

Fang is rapidly becoming a favourite of volunteers at Matang, as he has a very sociable personality. Macaques display a wide range of vocalisations and facial expressions to communicate with other members of the troop and facilitate social cohesion, and it seems Fang is trying to ingratiate himself among the human ‘troop’ he often sees around him. Future volunteers can look forward to meeting him; he is quite charming, in his own strange, slightly deformed way.

The Great Projects is proud to announce our latest winner of our 2012 competition in conjunction with Gapyear.com and Toiurism Malaysia, Suzanne Burn! She will be attending our Great Orangutran Project.

Below is Suzanne's response when we told her that she had won:

"I have been drawing and painting apes for as long as I can remember, and I felt weak at the knees when I was told the news that I’d won the competition and close to spontaneously combusting with excitement!  I am stunned to literally win my holiday of a lifetime, it all seems completely unbelievable! I’ve lost count of the times i’ve visited Monkey World in Dorset(!) to gain inspiration for my work, but have always aspired to one day visit Borneo and Sumatra, a dream until now I thought was almost impossible to realise.

 I paint in acrylic and have just finished painting a baby gorilla on canvas, and have painted all sorts of apes from the mandrill to the Bonobo, but I have to admit to having an extra special soft spot for the Orang-utan.  Their gentleness and docile nature appeals so much and I find their inquisitive character bewitching. I feel so passionate about their plight and their loss of habitat; it’s made me desperate to help in some small way.

 I am absolutely thrilled about the chance to be up close with the animals, taking part in helping to create stimulating environments for the captive orang-utans in their natural habitat and also perhaps seeing the odd sunbear or bear cat!  Hopefully i’ll also have the chance to photograph the animals up close in order to create future art work.

The Great Projects' reputation is amazing and I feel bowled over to be given this opportunity. I am quite prepared for some hard work and am ready to dive into a poncho and wellies and embrace the challenges I’m given while i’m out there. I hope my trip will truly help this beautiful species, albeit in a small way. I simply can’t wait!"

Suzanne was chosen because of her love for primates which is depicted in her beautiful paintings, one of which is shown above. We hope she has a wonderful time and will find some real inspiration to help her paint her next masterpiece!

As always we would like to give one final thank you to Gapyear.com and Tourism Malaysia who have helped make Suzannes trip possible.

To see some more of Suzannes work please visit: http://www.paintmypetportrait.com

Following on from Baby Bear I’s successful integration with Jo, she was recently mixed in the outdoor enclosure with the other two adults, Situ and Corrine. We were most concerned about Corrine’s reaction – when she was first mixed with Bernie back in 2008, she was not impressed with him at all and was not shy to point it out. She is also the most likely of all the bears to bark, growl and lash out unexpectedly, and we were not sure how tolerant she would be of a new bear.

For many species of animal, males are significantly more aggressive than females and are far more likely to be the instigators of fights, though in sun bears both males and females can show aggression to con specifics. We have found it is possible to decrease aggressive displays through a highly enriched feeding routine each day. Bears are solitary animals by nature, and aggression in captivity seems stimulated by feelings of competition over resources, so if each bear is engrossed in its own foraging, paying little mind to others in its area, they seem less inclined to fight.

That said, there were actually no problems in the integration of Baby Bear I with the adults. She was very calm, and intent on her own foraging when outside. When she came across another bear, they would sniff each other and occasionally she would run away from them, but the other bears seemed un-phased with the new addition to their enclosure. This now means we can have all of the bears in this area out each day, practising their foraging, digging and climbing skills and increasing their natural behaviour. The related photo shows Baby Bear I outside with two of the adults – if we manage to get any more photos I will post them here.

Apologies for the teasing post a couple of weeks ago, stating a photo of Baby Bear II, which actually was not posted. You can now see this lovely bear battling with a coconut – though she is young she is not lacking in strength or sharp teeth! She was recently moved into the hill enclosure at the centre, and begins the process of integration that Baby Bear I has just completed. She was initially terrified of the sight of the adults, and I would guess this is the first time she has seen another bear since she was with her mum. It has only been a short time, but already she is comfortable with their presence, albeit with the safety of a cage in between her and them. She is too young to be mixed with them at the moment, though we will give her access to the outdoor enclosure in the coming weeks. I will post some photos when she gets out there.

Yesterday a man arrived at the IAR orangutan centre and explained that about a month ago he had found a baby orangutan at the oil plantation where he works. He then offered to sell the animal to IAR, which our field manager, Argitoe made clear to him that we would not do. We got the location from the man, and early today our team set out to confiscate the animal.

As they arrived in Kepayan, Siduk they found a very young orangutan locked in a wooden cage. The man from yesterday was nowhere to be seen, but his wife and son willingly handed the small male to our paramedic, Rica. The orangutan is a small male, about 10-12 months of age and apparently in good health other than being slightly underweight for his age. We will monitor him closely over the coming weeks, and keep you posted on the progress of our newest member, Noel.

The Great Projects is proud to announce the winner of our 2012 competition in conjunction with Responsible Travel and Toiurism Malaysia, Natalya Welch! She will be attending our Orangutan and Tribes Voluntour on the 3rd May with her mother.

Below is Natalya's response when we told her that she had won:

"Are you really sure that this is not a hoax? Im still in disbelief that I have not only won a competition, but the chance to go on the most amazing adventure to my absolute dream destination with my bestest friend, my mum.

My love of animals, especially of the Ape variety and the chance to visit beautiful Borneo is so very exciting and I cannot wait to don my hiking boots and get there!

So the dreaded Leeches aside, I’m most looking forward to experiencing a way of life that I know so little about, immersing myself in the tribal culture, spending time being a jungle Jane and exploring the rainforests is yet another goal to tick off the wish list.

I feel incredibly fortunate that I will be able to see the magnificent Orangutans in their natural environment, which in the future may so sadly be no more. I’ll be sure to keep a grip on my camera as I’ve heard that Orangutans have a rather cheeky side and fancy themselves as photographers! Camera firmly attached, I’ll come home with an array of breathtaking photos to bombard the wonderful people who have made this fabulous trip a possibility with. I cant thank you all enough and will of course be eternally grateful! Is it time to go yet?"

As you can tell Natalya is extremely excited to go and we here at The Great Projects could not be more excited to give someone as enthusiastic and keen to help with our conservation efforts as Natalya, the chance to go to Borneo and fulfill a dream of hers. As all past volunteers will know this trip is very fulfilling and we are sure she will come back with many wonderful life long memories! 

We would like to give one final thank you to Responsible Travel and Tourism Malaysia who have helped give everyday people the chance to live with the native Bornean Iban tribes and understand the challenges associated with the conservation of the orangutans!

We look forward to hearing all of your stories upon your return!!

Last month Matang staff were called to help a proboscis monkey that had been sighted close to the stadium in Kuching city. Driving to its location, we had no idea what we were going to see – young or old, male or female, wild or perhaps someone’s escaped pet.

We were hoping it was not the latter – proboscis monkeys can be very hard to care for in captivity, as their dietary requirements are very specific. They are folivores, eating leaves of plants only found in mangrove or peat swamp forests. Ingesting complex sugars can kill them, as their digestive tracts cannot process these compounds.

If animals have been kept as pets, it is incredibly difficult to simply release them back into the wild, as in captivity they quickly become dependent on the easily provided food, they habituate to the routine imposed by the humans keeping them and they lose their fear of people. Unfortunately in the media the process of rescue and release to wild is often portrayed as being carried out in a couple of quick and easy steps, but this is often to satiate the public’s enjoyment of success stories with happy endings rather than divulging the complexities of rescue and rehabilitation. There are also issues such as disease transmission to consider.

Thankfully, this proboscis monkey was a wild male, perhaps driven out of his troop by a stronger male or perhaps just wandering too far in search of food. Proboscis monkeys live in large troops, mostly composed of females with their offspring, with just a handful of males. It is the adult males that possess the huge noses this species is famous for. Both males and females have somewhat of a pot belly, due to the incredibly long digestive tract required to process and digest the plant material they consume.

On paper, these monkeys sound ridiculous, and it is by only seeing them in real life that their majesty is so apparent. Matang staff were able to easily trap this male in a carry cage and prepare him for relocation to a suitable habitat.

He took a journey in a car, then on a boat, to Kuching Wetlands Park, the same site where Boboy the macaque was released two years ago, along with other macaques a few months ago. This area has wild proboscis monkeys in situ, there is plenty of suitable foliage for consumption and due to the swampy nature of the habitat, there are no human settlements; in other words, an almost perfect area for relocation of this monkey.

We hope he has negotiated his way into another troop and is settled into his new home. Volunteers often take boat trips in this area as it is good for spotting wildlife, so hopefully he will be among the animals spotted in the future.

Natasha Beckerson

"A brief intro into one of our most inspired volunteers. Owen amusingly depicted below, is a past volunteer and global traveller who spent time volunteering with orangutans (Or as he calls them, 'tans) in Borneo. He is currently writing a book about his travels, something that we here at The Great Projects are very excited about. Until his book is finished and published we hope you will enjoy this small blog below kindly written for us about his time visiting Matang and IAR's orangutan rehabilitation centre, Ketapang."

"The mysterious island of Borneo cast its spell over me from the very beginning; before the plane had even touched down we had to battle our way through a lightning storm as the island emerged from the shadows. We were greeted by our project manager Leo, a gentle giant of a man whose passion for conservation is evident from the moment you meet him. We made the long journey down through Sarawak, stopping off at the Matang Centre and meeting the famous Orang-utan celebrities such as Aman (the first 'tan to have ever had cataract surgery, before continuing by bus and then by ferry down to the small town of Ketapang at the most south western tip of the island, in the Kalimantan province of Indonesian Borneo.

There we joined the other volunteers and the rest of the crew, including the charismatic assistant manager Dominic and IAR representative Argitoe - a man small in stature but big in heart.

The work was tough; finishing the construction of a 3 storey high feeding platform for the infant 'tans as well as creating "Happy Sacks" - enrichment toys containing food that will allow the apes to test their mental skills and keep them active. We soon got to know our hairy charges and I look back in fondness at those loveable faces; Jo-jo, Cindy and Raja.

Our main reason for being at Ketapang was to assist International Animal Rescue (IAR) clear a new piece of purchased land to help in the construction of a new and much needed rehabilitation centre. The heat is oppressive and not without its challenges but the small community of Ketapang was full of smiling faces and children ran out of their houses to say hello as we walked to work.

When not working we would head down to the beach, work out in our custom made Do-jo or just relaxed on the balcony and watched the world go by.

Our housekeeper Ibu was another unforgettable personality; cooking delicious meals with a myriad of flavours when we were tired out and she kept the house spotless no matter how dirty our boots were!

I was offered a special opportunity to take a break and visit Camp Leaky; the site where Orang-utan conservation first began in the 1970's. A short plane ride and a 2 day riverboat trip later (spotting amazing local wildlife such as hornbills, cranes, proboscis monkeys and even a false gharial) we were amongst the buildings of the camp and Leo lent me his vast knowledge of the area. Tread lightly in these forests - the Orang-utans are beautiful but there lack of fear of humans can sometimes lead to the impression that they are tame. Never forget that we are guests in their world and should be respectful.

I was incredibly sad to leave the site - at Ketapang you may not always be around the Orang-utans but it is a project that desperately needs your help and support. With a bustling community next to the site, glorious sunsets, great friends (both local and international) and the having the knowledge that you are making a small positive difference in the lives of these beautiful animals' lives makes all the hard work worth while.

I don't know when I will have the chance to return but I know that if I ever go back to Borneo, Ketapang will be the place to go.

I am currently writing a book about my adventures around the world (of which Borneo was just one of the destinations) and once it is published I intend to donate some of the proceeds back to the Great Projects - to reach the Ketapang site.

Please show you support to logging on to my blog and by purchasing a copy of Genghis to Galapagos when it eventually published.
http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?go=genghistogalapagos

Owen Morgan