The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (Pusat Pemilhan Orang Utan Sepilok)
03-Jul-00
The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (Pusat Pemilhan Orang Utan Sepilok)At Sepilok, there a a center for re-introducing injured or exploited orangutans to the wild. A sign here detailed the 4 main stages of Orangutan rehabilitation:
- Quarantine: All Orangutans are given a battery of tests and isolated from the wild population to prevent the spread of disease
All orangutans admitted into the Sepilok Wildlife Clinic are quarantined for 90 days. A thorough veterinary examination and TB [tuberculosis] tests are conducted. Blood is taken and screened for malaria and blood parasites and samples are frozen in the serum/plasma bank. Orangutans are given milk and vitamin supplements daily. They are also weighed and dewormed fortnightly and body measurements are taken quarterly.
- Indoor Nursery: After quarantine, All orangutans live in the indoor nursery until they are fit to live outside
After quarantine, orangutans go into the indoor nursery. Here they live in individual cages and are taken into a common large cage for daily exercise, sunshine and to learn climbing and swinging skills. Their diet includes milk, assorted fruits and multi vitamin supplements. They are also weighed and dewormed and body measurements are taken quarterly. The critical age of an orangutan is from birth to 3 years.
- Outdoor Nursery: Here is where the rangers teach them the skills that will help them in the wild
Most orangutans are ready to proceed to the outdoor nursery by six years of age. This is located about 45 minutes walk into the forest. To acclimatize they are placed into a big cage before being moved out to feeding platform 1 and gradually proceeding to platform 4. The orangutans are fed twice daily and they also forage in the forest for food and build their own nests by instinct. In the wild, orangutan mothers teach their babies the art of survival. This is something orphan orangutans have to learn by themselves.
- Free roaming: The last stage of rehabilitation, the Orangutans are free to come and go as they please.
At the outdoor nursery, once orangutans reach the age of eight to ten years, they move further into the forest. Finally they become independent and can disappear for a while, reappearing at the feeding platform unexpectedly. There are a few males which return with well formed flanges and several females return to show off their new born babies at the feeding platform.
Mother
Maya
Maya and child
| Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Sabah, Malaysia | Show on map |
Searching...
Forlorn
Infant
Dense Forest
Show Larger | SaraGrace Keenan "SGK", and Michael Alessio. Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Sabah, Malaysia | Show on map |
Haircut!I went completely clean headed on this one.
| Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Sabah, Malaysia | Show on map |
Mother and child
Another viscous macaqueThis guy charged me!
close up of a macaqueThese macaque's would hang around the orangutan's feeding platforms to hone in on some of the free food.
Baby macaque
Show Larger | Michael Alessio "MRA", and SaraGrace Keenan. Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Sabah, Malaysia | Show on map |
Us and orangutan
Wild male arrivesThis guy was not one of the ones being rehabilitated; he was a wild orangutan showing up for a free lunch.
Lunch!
Weird bug
Tiny squirrel
Cicada
All content including images copyright 1999-2014 © SaraGrace Keenan and/or Michael Alessio Permission to use only granted with permission
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