The latest new arrival at our Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Ketapang is baby Jecka. He is between seven and eight months old and has been kept as a pet for the past five months.
The IAR team consisting of Argitoe, vet Ayu and one animal keeper joined members of the local Forestry Department (BKSDA) and the Sandai Police Department to assist with the rescue, and take over the care of, the young orphan. He was surrendered by a family living in Rangau Jekak, Sandai, Ketapang.
A first assessment of the baby by the veterinary team noted that Jecka looked active and healthy but it would require a full medical check up to get a clear and comprehensive picture of his health. During his time in captivity he had been kept in his owner’s house and fed entirely on milk, so he has yet to be introduced to any of the fruits and foods that form an essential part of a healthy orangutan’s diet.
Jecka is still so young that he cannot yet stand or climb. These are skills he will be encouraged to acquire once he is out of quarantine and started on the long process of rehabilitation to prepare him for eventual release back into the wild.
Alan Knight, IAR CEO, said: “This baby has already spent five months in captivity so he must have been taken from the wild when he was only about eight weeks old. As always in these situations, it doesn’t bear thinking about what this baby went through when he was taken from his mother. She will have fought fiercely to save her infant and one has to assume that she was killed trying to protect him.
“Some would say that Jecka is one of the lucky ones to have been rescued from captivity. But, like all the orangutans in our centre, he has already suffered terrible trauma and been deprived of the chance to grow up in the forest with his mother. We owe it to every single one of them to try to put their lives back together and return them to freedom. Jecka has years of rehabilitation ahead of him but our expert team of vets and keepers will be with him every step of the way.”