A new baby orangutan has been taken in to IAR’s centre in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. She was being kept as a pet in Sungai Duri, Bengkayan, which is miles away from Ketapang, but was originally from Kapuas Hulu, Putusibau. Her mother was killed and the baby was sold to a family for 1 million rupiah (£74). They eventually decided to hand her over to the Forestry Department (BKSDA), quite possibly because she became ill. In accordance with the formal agreement between IAR and the BKSDA, she was then entrusted to the expert care of IAR’s team of vets and keepers.
The baby has a very serious skin infection and was extremely itchy for the first days, as well as suffering from a fever. The vets started her on a course of antibiotics and other medication and she is already looking and clearly feeling much better. She also has very serious nutritional problems because she was being fed on a diet of meat, fried food, noodles and sweet tea. Now that she is receiving appropriate treatment, the itching has disappeared, she is regaining her appetite and learning to enjoy more suitable foods. She has been put in quarantine for the next six weeks, at the end of which she will be able to socialise with other orangutans for the first time since she lost her mother…
The baby, who is about 18 months old, had been thought to be male and so was known as Oscar. Now that she has been identified as a female she is called Oscarina.
IAR’s team receives numerous requests to rescue orangutans of all shapes and sizes, from small babies that have been captured by plantation workers to adults that were originally bought from plantation workers by local villagers and have spent years in captivity. However, as the team still operates from a small temporary location, only the most desperate cases can currently be rescued.
With work soon to begin on the construction of a permanent rehabilitation centre, International Animal Rescue is seeking support from the public to help fund the new facility and the care of the many orangutans it is aiming to help.