Do you remember Amy the orangutan? For years she spent her life chained up and alone in a wooden crate before this innocent and endangered lady was rescued by the team at IAR a few months ago. Now the gorgeous great ape, who has never before seen another of her kind, is rapidly making friends!
When Amy was rescued, she was taken to the rehabilitation centre in Ketapang, where she was placed in the quarantine unit whilst she underwent a series of physical and mental health checks to accurately assess her condition. It is essential the team are fully aware of Amy’s conditions, (even though they were quite harrowing) so they can give her the best and most appropriate treatment, and provide a happy life that Amy never knew could be possible.
The next step from here was to move her to an outdoor enclosure where she could see other orangutans, and begin learning from their examples. Adapting well to her environment, Amy proved to be a fast learner and loved her new diet of fruits and vegetables! Sometimes she was unsure of some unfamiliar foods, but to solve this problem she looked around at the other orangutans to see if they were tucking into the food for reassurance.
Within a week, Amy was completely adjusted to her new life in the outdoors, so the team decided to move her to an enclosure that was directly next door to another orangutan. Heribertus Suciadi, a member of IAR’s Indonesian team, described how Amy responded to this new experience;
“Amy’s response was quite amazing. She was curious about her new neighbour and tried to reach through and touch her. She clearly wanted to play with her new friend. She enjoyed all the enrichment we gave her and ate everything she was offered. She loves not only banana, orange and papaya but also cassava, cucumber, pineapple, watermelon and many more!”
Soon enough, Amy was ready to venture into the forest to meet other orangutans face to face. One of the several artificial islands at IAR that home orangutans undergoing rehabilitation for reintroduction to the wild, would be Amy’s new and pristine environment. Setrum island was chosen as the most appropriate home for Amy because on this island, the orangs aren’t too big or boisterous for Amy to handle.
Heribertus continues;
“The moving day was quite extraordinary. Amy doesn’t like people to touch her so she walked to Setrum Island unaided – but with the team there to guide her. She paused for a while to look around her and seemed fascinated by the trees. When she finally reached the island, Amy’s new friends were already waiting for her. They tried to smell her and some of them touched her inquisitively. Amy didn’t mind this at all; this was a new beginning for her and she was so happy to meet her new friends. She even started to climb a tree and slowly explore the forest. She seemed to have no problem moving around. She was just enjoying her new-found freedom out in the forest where she belongs.”
The inspirational work of the team at IAR really helps to open peoples eyes to the needs and benefits of wildlife conservation. A poor orphaned orangutan who spent the first years of her life chained up, alone and hidden from the world, is now trailing through the vibrancy of the rainforest and interacting with others of her kind.
The IAR Orangutan Project does have some last minute availability, so if you are interested in paying Amy and her new best friends a visit, then view the project on our last minute page!
