A mother and baby orangutan who were dying of starvation when they were rescued from the forests of Borneo have been released back into the wild.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Why are Borneo's forests devastated?
2 How old is the orangutan mother?
3 How does she look on close inspection?
4 What is she unable to produce?
5 What does Mamma Nam have to go through on the day she is going to be released?
6 Who helps carry the cage through the forest?
7 How long does the walk to the release site finally takes?
After hearing reports of a starving orangutan and her baby raiding villagers crops, International Animal Rescue have driven an hour and half from their base in Ketapang to investigate. In late 2015, large areas of Borneo’s Gunung Palung National Park were devastated by forest fires. And much of the wildlife living there had to flee. They find where the apes have been nesting for the night. It takes three tranquilizer darts to subdue the twenty-year old mother. Despite how weak she must be she is stressed and highly protective of her two-year old baby. On closer examination, the team can see how emaciated she is.
The condition of this orangutan is really poor. She hasn’t eaten for quite a long time so, she really looks so skinny.
In fact, she is so malnourished she is unable to produce milk for her baby. So they decide to take the pair back to the orangutan rehabilitation center to be nursed back to health. They name the orangutans Mamma Nam and Baby Nam.
After just over two months of care at the center, the mother has gained weight and both have been deemed fit to be returned to the wild.
Today we’re going to release Mamma Nam and Baby Nam, we are going to release to the National Park here in Palung, we leave from our center at 5 a.m. in the morning.
Before they leave, Mamma Nam is sedated and given a final health check.
We’re going to take the transport cage to the release site. It’s about 3 kilometers maybe it’s around like 1 or 2 hours walking. So, yeah hope it’s going well.
They reach the national park and with the help of six local porters begin the long hard walk through the burnt forest. While human activity is still encroaching on the orangutans natural habitat, at least now authorities are trying to safeguard against such devastating fires in the future. After three hours they reach a suitable release site. This release goes to plan but the rescue and rehabilitation of each orangutan costs thousands of dollars. And International Animal Rescue rely entirely on donations.
