Episode 2 Orangutan Diary

On Orangutan Diary...

Steve confiscated an orphaned female called Ellie.

She quickly settled into life at the Centre, finding herself a playmate called Grendon.

A flu epidemic was putting some of the nursery group in intensive care.

I met Lomon, so frail

and carrying both the physical and mental scars of a very traumatised orangutan.

And at the end of the day Steve and the Rescue Team kept their nerve

to save a wild orangutan from a tiny piece of forest.

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is home to more than 450 orangutans.

Some are confiscated from people keeping them as pets

and others are wild animals,

rescued from areas of forest under immediate threat of deforestation.

Yesterday, Steve saw the devastation caused by the palm oil industry -

one of the biggest threats to wild orangutans.

Row upon row of palms are replacing massive areas of rainforest.

Orangutans have nowhere to go

and are being rescued on an almost daily basis.

The male that the team saved will be held until a safe area of forest can be found.

Today though, yet another casualty is being brought back to the centre.

We've been lucky because the Rescue Team

have managed to capture a mother and her baby together.

This is a much better picture than the orphans being brought here when the mother's been killed.

Arriving with its mother gives the baby the best chance

of a quick return to the wild, but only if the mother is fit and well.

We've had to tranquilise the mother,

it's the only safe way to move her into the cage.

Oh, my God!

Look at her!.. Oh, that's just terrible! There's nothing to her.

This really does show how these infants, obviously,

will cling to their mothers, even if they're dead.

For most of the orphans we're seeing, this is the last sight they'll ever have of their mother.

Happily this one's only anaesthetised,

but they don't abandon their young and the young don't abandon them.

BABY SQUEAKS

You are so dirty, you are... Yes, you are going to get so sick.

Harrowing though this is, the baby is absolutely filthy.

The Centre's manager, Lone Droscher-Nielsen, must clean it.

How old do you think that baby there is, Lone?

It's about a year old, also.

Ya, you can go your mother.

OK... Go to your mother.

She's painfully thin.

Normally the orangutans' abdomens are big bellies.

She's obviously not eaten anything in days.

Her abdomen is completely empty.

And her nipples are very tiny and I suspect she doesn't have any more milk left.

Have you ever had to take the babies away from the mothers?

Only once, that was heartbreaking.

The mother wanted her baby but didn't have any milk.

-The baby was only about two months old.

-Oh, wow.

The next couple of days will be critical for her to get some of that weight back on.

Yes.

So many of the animals that come into the Centre arrive in a shocking state.

We have all been very worried about one particular orphan,

who came in seriously underweight...

little Lomon.

Well, this is Lomon and you can see that he is still looking

very, very poorly.

The good news is he has taken on a little bit of fluid

and when he first woke up this morning

there was a little bit of energy there.

One thing we have found out from the vet

is that they reckon that Lomon is six years old.

Lomon is obviously very small for his age,

very thin and very malnourished.

Now nobody knows exactly what's wrong with Lomon at the moment,

but if his organs have been affected

then they are not going to get any better.

Sadly this is an orangutan that may not recover.

Orangutans are so similar to humans that they can catch our diseases.

Everyone must be screened before they can work here.

Michaela, myself and the whole crew have gone through a very strict quarantine period

before being allowed anywhere near the orangutans.

But despite all these precautions sometimes illnesses do break out.

A flu bug is now spreading amongst the youngest orangutans.

We knew it was serious, and sadly, last night one of the infants died.

Everyone is really shocked.

Hello, little one!

I'm desperately hoping Little Amin doesn't go the same way.

The last time we saw Amin, he was actually lying down, flat out.

His lungs still aren't very good

and his breathing's very, very fast and it's quite noisy to listen to.

I am very concerned about him, given the fact that we've lost

one of these babies already to the flu.

Ideally we'd like to have a chest X-ray, and this is the problem here,

because it all costs money and it means that, um,

there are always priorities, and weighing up exactly

how much to have in the terms of veterinary facilities,

how much money to put into feeding these guys and making sure we rescue as many as possible

is a constant battling against, you know...funds.

It's just fingers crossed now really, and treat them as gently as possible.

The steady flow of new arrivals doesn't let up.

We're at the airport to collect yet another young orangutan

that has been kept illegally as a pet in Jakarta.

You can see how they really pack bags around these animals.

I'm sure they're freaking out.

Hello, gorgeous. Oh, you can just see the eyes peeping through.

'It's hard to imagine what's going through the mind of an animal

'under these conditions. It must be terrifying.

'The sooner we can get her out of the crate the better.'

Oh, come on, sweetheart!

Oh, sweetheart...

She likes boys!

-She likes men...

-Really.

-We were told..

-Does she want her teddy!

Yes...she may need Teddy here! That's yours.

Having spent so much of her life in captivity,

this little orangutan lacks any of the life skills needed to survive in the wild.

Instead, all she has learned from people are bad habits.

All of the orangutans that come into the centre must master the skills

that a wild youngster would normally learn from its mother.

My favourite orangutan, Grendon, is at the start of this process.

He's got so much so much to learn...

but his real education takes place out in the forest.

Grendon's in a group with Ellie,

the orangutan we saw rescued yesterday from a life in captivity.

This is their first trip away from the Centre

and it's the start of a long course that will teach them all of the skills they'll need

to survive independently.

Isn't this typical!

Grendon, the little biter, the little fighter...

as soon as he has to go to big school...

look at him!

You're frightened, aren't you? It's all new and exciting

but not quite so sure now, are we?!

Go on, Grendon...

That's great...

what a complete reversal.

Here we thought that Grendon was going to be the outgoing one,

but Ellie's just blasted up the trees.

Grendon is quite happy to sit on the ground

and leave all the exploring to the girls.

She seems to be doing all right on that journey.

Got through a lot of liquid, didn't you?

Knew how to open the cans and everything!

I think it's very obvious what this little girl's been fed on for the last few years.

A lot of junk food, eh!

Well, Lone predicted that Sheba,

which is her name as we found out, wouldn't be able to climb!

Sheba's proved Lone wrong because she's immediately gone up the tree and that's really positive,

that's a really good sign that,

although she's been in a cage, and in captivity,

she still knows how to use her arms and legs properly.

She'll probably be allowed to have a bit of freedom

and then she'll have to go in a quarantine cage

and then she'll have to be tested for TB, hepatitis, HIV

and have a full health check.

One of the most important lessons Grendon must learn in the forest

is where to find food. And not all of it grows on trees.

This is a termite nest

and actually Grendon

hasn't quite worked out what to do when he's found the termites

What I'm trying to do is just demonstrate

by picking one up and pretending to eat it.

They're very good at mimicry

and if they watch something happen in front of them,

they'll quite often have a crack at it themselves.

Oh, are you going to eat it?

Oh, it's stuck on your thumb...

There we go...well done.

Good lad!

I think Ellie's age is really showing here.

When she came in she was that bit older she would have had more experience, a bit more confidence

and it could be that she's going to lead the way now.

Poor Grendon.

This is all so new to him.

He seems to be exploring but very, very cautiously

and doesn't seem to want to go too far away from the babysitters.

Nanda!

Nanda!

Nanda!

While we were concentrating on Grendon and Ellie,

Nanda, the little hairy, quiet orangutan in this group, has wandered off.

You'd think that a bright orange animal would be quite easy to spot,

but the weird thing is,

that with that dark coat and in this dappled light they disappear.

And it's pretty dense stuff, as you can see - she could be anywhere.

Nanda!

It seems that the flu that swept through the nursery group

is now affecting some of the older orangutans as well.

Having 20 kilos on your back as well...

Is that how much he is?

He's probably 15, 16 kilos.

'The animals that are showing symptoms of the virus are being

'moved out of their school groups and into one big unhappy sick group.'

'The flu isn't as serious with

'animals of this size but they still do look very sorry for themselves.'

These are all of the ones that are really not feeling very well.

Not only have some of these small ones got flu but 70% of them have

also been tested for malaria, so it's not surprising that they really

are feeling very tired, sleeping a lot,

just like we as humans would do if we had either flu or malaria.

Now obviously if these orangutans were in the wild,

they'd be with their mums 24/7 and they'd be getting

whatever attention they need.

Here, not only are these guys not well, it is important to remember

that they are also orphans.

They've got to share just two sitters,

and they've got to keep vying for their attention if they need a cuddle.

Obviously it's very difficult to know exactly how they are feeling, but...

probably headachy, achey joints.

Just not having any energy, not drinking as much...

feverish, but interestingly not all of them get a fever

when they get malaria.

You can see that all these orangutans, aren't like the ones...

Ha, ha, that's classic...

Oh, excuse me but I am doing a piece to camera!

Oh, a bit of jealousy there I think!

Nanda!

Nanda!

She's here.

She was just sat in the bottom of a ditch.

I just saw this little furry blob and thought, "That can't be her",

but it was you!

And she squeaked a little bit.

Here, I'll give her back to you.

There you go.

No problem.

Eeeh, that's it...good lad!

One of the things you can't teach these orangutans is how to climb.

They've got to learn so much -

whether branches will hold their weight,

whether, you know, they can swing

from tree to tree, how far they can bend a particular branch.

And you gotta remember that also, when Grendon is fully grown,

he'll weigh as much as me, so getting that confidence in the trees

when he's this age is only going to stand him in good stead

when he's a bit bigger.

I think he's going to be fine!

Despite all the sickness that's around and the worry it's causing,

there is some really good news back at the Centre.

Look at this, this orangutan in front of me is Lomon.

And he's up and about which is great and because he's beginning to show

an interest in food, the sitters have decided to

bring him down to where the food is and let him have a little pick

and just see if anything takes his fancy, and you can see he's got

straight in a basket with the bananas!

It really is quite amazing to see Lomon do this because earlier on

when I saw him I just thought there is no way this orangutan

was even going to get up today.

And now look at him,

surrounded by fruit and really showing an interest.

He is so painfully thin though.

When Lomon was in captivity, apparently all he ate

the whole year was pineapple, so out of all the fruits

that he's been given to choose from, he's picked the pineapple

and that's probably because that's what he feels familiar with.

This is obviously looking very good for Lomon,

he's clearly much better than he was earlier, but you just can't get

complacent with an orangutan that is this weak.

When he stands up, he is so thin, you can see his ribs poking through.

This is when you realise just how important the babysitters are.

It's this level of care that gives these orangutans any hope at all.

This sitter has tried everything she can to get Lomon to eat

and finally something has worked.

The education of the orphan orangutans

is very much an ongoing process.

As they get bigger they must become increasingly independent.

Today is a big day for one adult male.

After over six years of schooling, it's graduation day!

He's to be moved to a small river island, where he will receive

the minimum of human contact,

pushing him one step closer to an eventual wild release.

OK.

BANG Get off, get off...

Run, run, run...

SHOUTING

That was absolutely incredible. I was only here

to wave Lone off, but obviously events have taken a different turn.

These big males are very, very powerful,

when you consider an adult male is seven times stronger than a human.

This isn't even a fully grown adult,

but it's ripped open that cage that it was in.

Everybody is being, obviously, naturally, very cautious.

He's quite relaxed now,

but these guys, if they want to,

can do some severe damage.

It's going to be a bit of a struggle to get him into the boat now.

Well, this is such a positive and encouraging turn-around.

Lomon actually got up by himself, wandered

to this bit of forest and is now exploring the forest floor.

He's done a little bit of climbing as well.

It really is astonishing how Lomon has turned around today,

which shows probably that

it's psychological damage that he's suffering from.

When the results of his blood test came back

there is nothing actually wrong with him from the blood test,

so maybe it's because of all the trauma that he's been through.

This orangutan has been through horrific stuff.

Maybe by leaving him alone

for the ten days he's been here so far, that's the cure for him.

He's beginning to turn round and what we've seen here today

is astonishing.

From what he was like this morning to what he is now,

wandering around the forest and beginning to climb.

It is just incredible, it's really, really encouraging.

Our male orangutan is still on the loose.

You just never quite know what's going to happen with an orangutan.

We need to get it back on the boat.

For its safety and ours,

we must anaesthetize it.

But getting close enough to stick a needle in calls for some bold tactics.

Gently does it...

If he'll just sit still...

So close.

No...busted!

Down...

Careful...careful.

Good job, good job!

Standard stealth, inject and runaway, technique!

It's quite important that as you leave you point at somebody else

and say, it was him!

We don't want him to go up a tree now he's been sedated.

That's the last thing we want.

Oh, that's a good sign. There we go, the sedation's having an effect now.

Lomon has certainly had an eventful day, and it's been extremely encouraging,

and a lot of that's down to the care of his baby sitter.

The patience that the staff here show for all the orangutans

is fantastic.

Many of the babysitters have children of their own and they show

the same love and affection for their orangutan charges

as they do for their own children.

Well, it looks like that's enough energy for Lomon for today,

but if he continues

to improve like he has today, then there's definitely hope.

And who knows, in the next few days we might even see him out

in the forest.

Our adult male orangutan is finally on his way.

The forested islands are a safe sanctuary for the oldest animals.

For Lone and her team this is always a happy occasion.

Having nurtured them as babies,

seen them through the school to at last setting them free.

The final step for all the orangutans on the islands

is to be released back into the real wild.

Working with the authorities, Lone hopes to find a large protected area

of forest, as quickly as possible.

But we mustn't forget that behind every animal here

lies a tragic story...

the loss of their forest homes.

I've come back to the quarantine cages to check on the mother and baby

that came in this morning.

They're still in a shocking state.

Most animals when they're

taken to a completely strange place would get quite stressed,

but the first thing she's interested in is just feeding.

She must be starving!

This is the best thing she can do for herself at the moment.

Get some food in her, build her energy up,

so she can produce milk for the baby.

These two really were rescued just in time

and the next couple of days will be crucial to their recovery.

Hopefully, they'll make it.

But one thing's for sure, they won't be the last to arrive here.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media - 2007