Ape slaughter in Borneo:
FOUR PAWS releases rescued orang-utans into a safe forrest area
An orang-utan mother and her infant have been successfully re-released into the wild after they had been saved from headhunters in Borneo a week earlier. Members of the FOUR PAWS team working at the Samboja orang-utan orphanage had been searching the area surrounding a palm oil plantation after news of systematic killings had surfaced. Allegations are that many palm oil companies pay rewards of up to one million Indonesian Rupiah (about € 80) for each ape killed. The FOUR PAWS search unit did not find any surviving orang-utans apart from a pregnant female and her infant, who were already surrounded by a gang of local youths intending to kill them for the bounty. The petrified animals were rescued at last minute and brought to one of the few remaining safe areas in the jungle of Borneo.
The female orang-utan, aged between 25 and 30, and the 5-year-old infant appear to be the only survivors in the area of the plantation. While the animals were cared for by FOUR PAWS ape experts, it took days to get to the selected release site. Heavy weather made the journey even more difficult, but the team reached its destination by January 26, in spite of flooded roads. Just before their release, the adult ape was equipped with a radio transmitter, which will make it possible to monitor them and ensure they are staying within the boundaries of their new home area and succeed in adapting to it.
Time is running out
 Meanwhile, the massive destruction of the Indonesian rain forests and the illegal mass killings of the apes living in it are slowly entering the political agenda after the topic finally received some attention by the local media. Up until very recently, the existing laws protecting the orang-utans from being slaughtered lacked enforcement entirely, which led to the ape population shrinking from a quarter of a million a few decades ago to only about 50,000 remaining orang-utans. They are severely threatened by extinction as palm oil companies eat their way into the country’s once unique ecosystem. Palm oil is used in large variety products made by some of the world’s biggest corporations, including sweets, cereal bars as well as shampoo and mascara. Tens of thousands of adult orang-utans have been slaughtered, while their orphaned offspring is frequently being sold off as pets or left behind to die, if they aren’t killed on the spot as well. Mass graves that were discovered last September triggered the first few serious arrests, including a senior plantation manager.
FOUR PAWS has been working in Indonesia for several years, concentrating on raising young foundlings at the Samboja centre, teaching the highly intelligent animals how to survive independently and negotiating the creation of safety-zones, in which they can be released one day.
27.01.2011
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