Posts Tagged: Orang utan

Conservation — No Comments
30
Mar 10

Fighting the flames

WWF has stepped in to battle annual fires in central Kalimantan, Borneo, which threaten the survival of an estimated 8,000 endangered wild orang-utans.

Every dry season more forest and peatland in the region is cut and burned to make way for plantations, destroying the forests and some of its wildlife, fuelling climate change, and sparking uncontrolled fires.

Beginning in July 2009, the last dry season was marked by a prolonged drought. This triggered wildfires that threatened to spread into vital orang-utan habitat in the Sebangau National Park area, where they could have easily killed the great apes or left them homeless. The park’s 568,700 hectares are made up of peatland, which burns easily when it dries out.

To help tackle any future fires, WWF has been working with local authorities to train and equip a community fire service called RPK. This has already proved successful. In August a joint team from WWF and the Park Office was on a routine fire patrol when locals alerted them to a fire burning above and below ground in a nearby peat area.

A spokesman for the local RPK said they are much better prepared to tackle fires since they  have established proper forest fire-fighting techniques. “When the fire started, we extinguished it using techniques that we learned during training sessions conducted by WWF just before the dry season ,” he added.

WWF has also established and fully equipped a forest fire-fighting station in north Ulu Segama – a critical orang-utan habitat in the Heart of Borneo. And we are working with local people to strategically block local canals: this keeps water in the peat bog areas to reduce the risk of fire and allow plants to re-grow. In west Kalimantan, WWF has established two pilot projects in villages pioneering the use of improved farming techniques that do not require burning.

We hope to expand these projects. We are also calling for the government to support us with tougher law enforcement against those found guilty of setting fires as well as action to prevent further incidents.

Conservation — No Comments
7
Jan 10

Life in the fauna sauna

My first time in Borneo’s jungle. I was wrapped head to toe in bandana, hat, long-sleeved anti-mozzie shirt, long trousers, leech-proof socks and state of the art hiking boots.

I staggered through the overgrowth like a drunken brass band. Afterwards I discovered six leeches crawling up my trousers, one in my armpit and three sucking the life out of my upper thigh. As I rubbed menthol oil on to my skin to detach the world’s most annoying living bogeys I considered how this gave new meaning to the phrase ‘tough day at the office.’

I had come to Danum Valley in the northern part of the island to find out what it takes to track endangered orang-utans through the jungle. What it takes, other than an air-conditioned spacesuit, is sheer dedication and commitment, which I found among the WWF-Malaysia team who were my guides.

I returned each night to the relatively giant-bug-free safety of our base in a scientists hut. But there are times when the team’s work means camping out inside nature’s full frenzy for up to 10 days at a time.

Field Biologist, Shan Khee Lee, explained: “When we are camping in the jungle we do not have anywhere special to cook or eat. There is no power or entertainment in the evening so we go to bed early.

“When you are working and getting dirty all day it can be hard when you finish to still be in the jungle. For three or four days it is okay, but for ten days or more, it is hard.”

Helicopter surveys check the treetops for the nests which each orang-utan makes each day, and these are followed up by patrols on the ground. How green the nest is, combined with smell of fresh urine or droppings, tells the team how recently it was occupied.

If the nest was last night’s bed, then the target may not have gone too far. Once the animal is spotted, the team moves silently into position beneath it, and begins photographing and making notes of its behaviour. For as long as it takes.

The team does this for about three weeks each month. They spend the rest of the time in meetings, planning, training, and meeting up with the loved ones they leave at the edge of the jungle. Or they write reports for people like us, to tell us how it really is in the wild.

I was relieved to return to my desk, awed and inspired.

“We spend more time with each other than with our families,” said Shan Khee. “We feel like a family, like brothers and sisters. The animals cannot tell us what they need, so we researchers must tell the world for them. We are the messengers.”