Episode 1 Orangutan Diary

6.00am on the Katingan River, Indonesian Borneo.

We're on a rescue mission to help save some of our closest animal relatives.

Orang-utans.

Their forest home is being destroyed at a terrifying rate.

Many are being killed by poachers,

and their babies kept illegally as pets.

If nothing is done, these magnificent animals

will be extinct in the wild within ten years.

Hope lies with a dedicated few,

who are doing all they can to save the orang-utan.

We'll be joining them for the emotional rollercoaster ride

that is Orang-utan Diary.

We've had a report that there's a young orang-utan

being kept in a village upstream.

So we've joined with the forestry officers to head up there and bring it back to the centre.

So far, we know it's a little girl,

but no more than that.

Oh, yes.

That is one very frightened and traumatised little orang-utan.

'Just imagine a two-year-old human child being taken from its mother

'and chained up in a shed.'

'It's illegal to have a baby orang-utan as a pet,

'so when they're found, they're confiscated.

'Things don't always go smoothly,

'but our orphan is being handed over voluntarily.'

Our little orphan's journey starts here.

But she's far from happy.

Obviously traumatised, she's refusing to eat or drink.

She's in a world that's completely alien to her.

Born high in the tree tops in the Indonesian rainforest,

she would have been totally reliant on her mother,

for milk, warmth and love,

just like a human baby.

Now alone, our orphan's only hope for a return to the wild

rests with Lone Droscher-Nielsen,

and the team of the Borneo Orang-utan Survival Foundation.

Lone has dedicated the last 13 years to saving orang-utans

after giving up her career as an air stewardess.

The centre contains both wild orang-utans,

rescued from forest under threat of destruction

and orphaned animals confiscated from people keeping them illegally.

The youngest face at least six years in captivity,

learning the life skills their mothers would have taught them.

Every morning, these tiny babies are taken outside.

They're looked after by dedicated babysitters,

who are with them 24 hours a day.

Look at these guys. They're just adorable. Aren't you?

How many have you got in the nursery at the moment, Lone?

Somewhere around 15!

And what sort of ages are they?

The youngest we have is only about three weeks old.

And then two are a year and a half, almost two.

How long do they spend in the nursery before the next step?

It depends on their personalities, on their capabilities.

Also age. It is mainly their capabilities.

They need to be able to climb up in the top of the trees

before we move them on.

'Kesie is the biggest orang-utan in this nursery group.

'She's been here longer than the others, due to a disability.

'She lost a hand,

'probably from the same machete blow that killed her mother.'

You can see that compared to all the other babies in this group,

Kesie is much more advanced. She's older, for a start,

and despite her handicap, she's brilliant at climbing now,

so she's pretty much ready to move onto the next group.

We're halfway back to the centre.

Sorting out a vehicle to take us the rest of the way is taking a while.

The good news is that our orphan, too scared to eat or drink,

hasn't stopped feeding since we sat down.

She seems to have an insatiable appetite for bananas,

which is great.

I think that's about, one, two, three...

This is number eight going in now.

Looks like our transport's arrived.

-Are we OK?

-Yeah.

'It's a big day for little orphan, Kesie.

'She's outgrown the nursery,

'so we're taking her on a short ride to the first of the centre's forest schools.'

It's exciting.

She's tasting the air, look.

Is that what she's doing?

It's the air-con. She likes the wind from the air-con.

MICHAELA LAUGHS

Look at that tongue!

Do do do.

'Eventually, all of the babies in the nursery group will be moved here,

'Forest School One,

'home to orang-utans between six months and three years old.

'All have lost their mothers,

'and are now dependent on the babysitters

'for love and education.'

The aim is to eventually get as many of these orphans

back into the wild as possible,

and that means learning certain skills

they would have spent years learning from their mothers.

For Kesie, I think your biggest challenge is going to be

mixing with orphans your own age,

and climbing these big trees.

Do you think you can manage?

I reckon you can.

Lone, she's not interested in a new friend, she's just interested in the pineapple.

-Maybe it's because it's the first time she's had it.

-Is it?

Yeah. The baby group, their stomachs are too sensitive for pineapple.

Well, that looks pretty yummy, then, doesn't it, Kesie?

Duta, I want you to meet your new friend.

Duta, this is Kesie.

Kesie, this is Duta.

Now, Duta is very handsome, Kesie.

Look. Look at this beautiful face.

Ooh! He is a Casanova, look at that!

Straight in there for a cuddle!

Not even a, "Hello, how are you?"

Oh, sweet!

Kesie's showing no interest whatsoever.

Give me my pineapple!

Hey, look at that. Kesie is showing a very good start.

On day one,

of Forest School One.

Because this is exactly what she's come to this group to learn to do -

to climb tall, straight trees like this.

That's actually one of the reasons she was kept back.

Because she's only got one hand, it's obviously a lot harder for her.

Our little orphan's arrived at the centre.

Her rehabilitation back to the wild can now begin.

It's amazing to think that frightened baby we saw earlier,

rescued in such traumatic circumstances...

It's dreadful to think...

That might have been an isolated incident,

but when you realise that every one of these little infants here

has gone through something similar, it shows why this place is here,

and why it needs to be here.

At least these guys now have a chance

at having some semblance of a normal life.

Every orang-utan here is given their own name.

Our new edition here is going to be called Ellie.

Ellie has now been introduced to these other orang-utans

that are actually part of a quarantine group.

This is for their safety,

until we work out that they're all free of the major diseases.

And it's a great opportunity for her to learn how to be an orang-utan again.

One of the things she has learned is that orang-utans don't normally stand up!

I think she's been watching too many humans.

Well, this is the rainy season,

and you can see we've got a real rain storm going on.

We've got thunder and lightning, so we've taken cover.

But look at this little orang-utan.

This is Lamon, and he is a very poorly little baby.

He came in ten days ago.

He was confiscated from a cage where he was chained up.

He's very thin, very malnourished.

They think he's got a lot of parasites. He's anaemic.

He's not eating or drinking.

He had his head shaved. Nobody knows why. That's just the way he came in.

This is a real worry, this orang-utan.

He's actually calmed down from when he first came in.

He didn't want to look at anybody.

He was under the towel all the time.

He was pushing people away.

And that's, very sadly, probably because he was beaten in the cage.

Poor little thing.

This is an orang-utan we're going to have to keep a real look out for.

They can go downhill so quickly when they're in this sort of state.

'There's also a major worry in the nursery group.

'Some of the smallest orang-utans have come down with a flu virus.

'Every precaution is taken to avoid illness.

'Everyone here, including Steve and I,

'have been screened for infectious diseases.

'But some sickness is, sadly, unavoidable.

'Steve and the other vets are very worried.'

-Hi, Steve.

-Hi.

How's it looking? Oh, my goodness. What's happened to this one?

This is Don King. He's come down with flu pretty badly at the moment.

His lungs sound horrible, actually. I've just had a quick listen.

He's got a lot of fluid build-up on his chest.

The problem is, whatever the virus is going round

it's hitting all these small ones really hard.

They're already at the most vulnerable stage of their lives.

Once you get bacteria in on top,

then it can make a real mess of their lungs,

and if that's the case,

then all you can do is throw as much medication at them as possible,

stick them on oxygen and hope they bounce back.

Are you worried about these ones?

This is the group we've got to be most worried about.

They're so small that some of them have already got other complaints.

They should have been suckling off their mothers,

getting their immune system boosted by antibodies in the milk.

Now that's gone,

they're never going to be as strong as a wild orang-utan, so...

Of all the animals in this whole centre that are at risk,

these are the worst, definitely.

'Each of these little ones has had such a tough start in life.

'Many have seen their mothers killed, often in brutal ways.

'But these orphans at least have a chance.

'The attention they should have got from their mothers

'is now supplied by these dedicated foster parents.'

Over 100 full-time staff are employed at the centre.

It's a huge job looking after so many vulnerable orang-utans,

especially when they're sick.

Everybody in this group of Ellie's

is feeling a bit under the weather this morning.

Ellie and Aggis here have had some medication

to make them feel better.

For now, I think they're just happy to lie in their sick beds.

Here you go. I'll hold your foot.

There we go. Ah.

She's very warm, actually. You can feel the heat in her hands.

There is one exception, and that's a particular favourite of mine

called Grendan.

It'll take more than a measly flu to slow him down.

He's the little tike that's in this group.

I think that Grendan could possibly be

the best thing that's happened to Ellie.

He's the one ape that she's really bonded with.

HE LAUGHS

Even though he's a little bit smaller,

he's showing all the signs of being ready to move to the next step.

He's fit, he's healthy, he's an intelligent little guy,

so they could pair up quite nicely.

Which would be really good for her, and him,

to go into a group where they at least know one other individual.

Even if all they do is pull each other's hair!

HE CHUCKLES

When you come to this side of the centre,

it makes your realise just how tragic the situation for orang-utans

in Borneo is.

This centre was built for 100 orang-utans.

There are currently 450 here,

and they except about another 50 to arrive soon.

It's literally bursting at the seams.

The orang-utans that are in these cages, some are in quarantine,

but a lot of these orang-utans are larger, wilder orang-utans,

and are actually ready to go back into some sort of wild.

But at the moment, there's nowhere for them to go to.

You can't just find a piece of wild land

and put a rehabilitated orang-utan back in.

It doesn't work like that.

You have to get permission, see who that land belongs to,

make sure that land is going to be protected

and that the forest isn't just going to be cut down.

So, at the moment, these orang-utans are going to stay here,

until that land can be found.

'But Lone and the team have come up with one solution

'to the overcrowding problem.'

'The foundation has leased a group of islands in the local river,

'where the bigger orang-utans are released

'into something close to a wild environment.'

'On the islands, all the animals receive the minimum human contact,

'pushing them one step closer to an independent life.'

'Both adult females and males live on the islands,

'and there are some babies, too.'

Look! Oh, how old is that baby?

Shirley's baby is, if I'm not mistaken, about five or six months.

That is so sweet. That's how you should see a baby.

Not clinging to our backs.

-How many are here on the island?

-43.

-And what's going to happen to them? Will they stay here?

-No.

They're gonna be released.

They've been ready for the last two years to be released.

We just haven't had any release sites for them.

But things are looking up this year, so maybe in August, they'll be released.

Will they be released together?

They'll be released in small groups.

We know who is friendly with who. We won't put the big males together.

Probably in groups of four or five.

One thing I find incredible is

all these rehabilitated orang-utans are so social.

In the wild, they would be completely solitary.

Do you think when they're released they'll stay social,

or will they just go off in their own separate ways?

They will start going off. The males, when they start developing the cheek pads,

the hormones start kicking in.

The females will stay in the area, but they won't socialise as much

because the food availability will be less than what it is here.

-They socialise because there's food here.

-How often do you feed them?

We feed them twice a day.

Do you think once they get put out into the real world

they'll be able to cope finding enough food?

We'll keep on giving them supplemental food

for as long as they need it.

Some of these mothers, I presume,

are mothers that have been in captivity their whole life.

How did they cope with knowing how to bring up a baby?

I don't know. I didn't teach them, for sure,

but the islands bring instincts out.

When they live in the wild, it brings the instinct of motherhood out,

the age also.

We see if they have babies in zoos or cages

that they often don't know how to take care of their babies.

It's so sweet to see that little infant just leaving its mum,

playing in the tree.

He's got the biggest ears. He can almost fly.

Lone, it must be amazing for you to see some of these orangs.

These are ones that would have come into your centre in such a bad way,

and to see them progress to this stage must make your feel very proud.

Well, it does, but also it makes me feel relieved,

parents getting their kids off to university,

it's quite nice getting them out of the house.

'Finding the right wild release site is Lone's biggest concern.

'As long as their forest home remains under threat from deforestation,

'more animals are likely to come into the centre than leave it.'

We've had a call that a wild orang-utan has been seen

wandering near a road, close to a newly-destroyed patch of forest.

I'm heading out to see whether we can rescue the animal

and bring it back to the centre.

For the first time, I'm seeing the total devastation that is so common

all over Borneo.

It is the scale of it that really gets me.

It just goes on for ever and ever.

The only boundary we can see to this whole area is miles over there,

you can just start to see the edge of the forest.

And we know that's probably not going to be here

the next time we come here.

'The natural habitat of the orang-utan is disappearing

'at a faster rate than ever before.

'A new threat, the palm oil industry,

'is driving the destruction.

'Palm oil is present in one in ten of our supermarket products,

'from crisps to shampoo.'

This is all fairly new. If you look, all the palm trees here

are very, very small.

They've only just planted this area out.

It won't produce any viable produce for at least five years.

'In the last ten years,

'the area of land occupied by palm oil plantations has doubled.

'At the same time, orang-utan numbers in the wild have halved.'

At no other time have orang-utans needed our help more

than they do today.

This chap here has seen an orang-utan walking.

I think, from what I can tell, that he saw it walking along here

and then as he shouted,

it's disappeared in here, but at the moment, we can't find it.

'It's getting near the end of the day

'and the orang-utans are being brought back to the nursery.

'It's important for the sick ones especially

'to get as much rest as possible.'

'Their washing basket beds are meant to replicate the nest

'their mothers would have built them, high in the forest canopy.'

'But right now, they offer only little comfort

'to the sick babies in the group.'

I reckon it's going to be another busy night in the nursery.

There are 15 babies in here. All of them except three have got the flu.

A couple of them are on oxygen,

many of them are still feeding throughout the night,

so the sitters have got a tough night ahead of them.

'The wild orang-utan has been spotted heading into a tiny fragment of forest left from the clearances.'

Ho ho. Nearly lost it there.

'Tomorrow, this patch of forest will be destroyed,

'so this rescue is critical.

'We have to get the orang-utan out at all costs.'

Here it is, here it is.

It's just trying to escape at the moment.

It's moving across the forest.

'On the rescue team is a highly-skilled marksman,

'who will attempt to anaesthetise the orang-utan

'with a tranquiliser dart.'

There we go. You can see it quite clearly now. There he is.

It's going to take quite a shot.

This whole system works on compressed air.

Even the dart itself contains compressed air.

When it actually goes into the animal, it will release the drug.

Ooh. Lovely. Yeah. He did not like that, obviously, but...

He's moving. They're going with the net.

OK.

He's gone back this way.

Go, go, go.

Yeah, back up.

Running through the bottom of this forest while it skims across the top

is not easy at all.

We absolutely have to be under the tree

when the sedative has its full effect.

Because it's going to fall out of the tree.

Right, it's stopped reacting now to us shouting,

so it's getting sleepy.

OK, it looks like this is the place.

It's a hell of a drop.

This is quite a distance to fall.

It looks about 25 metres to me, at least.

It's not reacting any more.

It's just sat there, and quite often, under sedation, they can hang on for ages and ages.

And then, literally, they'll just drop.

So we've got to be ready.

Here we go. Come on, come on.

Oh, hang on. He's moving now.

Here we go, here we go.

Ooh.

Oh, my God.

That was a fall and a half.

Let's have a quick look.

It's a male.

I just wanted to check his ribs, because he did land face down.

He's actually done quite well. The net seemed to do its job.

That was absolutely extraordinary.

It's like rescuing somebody from a burning building,

which is exactly what this little patch of forest is

for these orang-utans, because pretty soon, it's going to be gone.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd - 2007

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