A young female orangutan is the latest arrival at International Animal Rescue’s centre in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. IAR’s team took part in the rescue of the infant, named Sindi, who thankfully was found to be in good condition, although very frightened and timid. She is believed to be between two and three years old.
Sindi’s rescue followed an attempt to save another captive orangutan that had ended in sadness and disappointment. The IAR team had made a six hour trip with members of the BKSDA (forestry department) and a representative from a local NGO to Nanga tayap in the Ketapang district. However, when they arrived at the house expecting to find the orangutan, the owner claimed that it had died. After this sad and disheartening news, the group learned of a second orangutan being kept illegally in the small village of Sungai daka, a further six hours drive away. After an overnight stay en route, the team arrived in the village at midday the following day and, with the assistance of the authorities, confiscated the young female and set off on the return journey to the Ketapang rescue centre.
In captivity Sindi had been fed a diet consisting only of rice with water and sugar: now she is happy to eat anything she is offered and is receiving the nutritious food a young orangutan needs to grow healthy and strong.
After a period in quarantine, it is hoped that she will be ready to meet and make friends with Melky, Bunga and the rest of the gang.
Karmele Llano Sanchez, International Animal Rescue’s Veterinary Director in Indonesia, said: “The rescue of each orangutan is a bittersweet moment: we are happy and relieved to have saved an animal from its miserable life in captivity, but we are painfully aware that thousands of other orangutans continue to lose their homes and their lives at the hands of the human race. We are doing what we can to rehabilitate the animals we rescue so that one day they can be returned to the wild, but it will require a committed global effort if we are to protect the remaining rainforest and hence the future of the orangutan before time runs out.”