THE forest fires have been quelled by tropical rains but the need to rescue stricken orangutans never ceases.
Orangutans are still suffering in Borneo's rainforests |
These dramatic scenes show how the great apes are still suffering in Borneo's rainforests long after the flames have died away.
Many
mothers and babies have already been saved from the flames but now it
is the large male orangutans that are finding themselves in trouble in
their cremated wilderness.
In one dramatic
rescue, a trapped orangutan plunges to the ground from the trees, with a
safety net breaking his fall before he thuds to the ground.
The
terrified ape had been driven to the trees after being repeatedly shot
at by a villager with an airgun for wandering onto a plantation.
Most years, orangutans stray into fruit growing areas during the dry season but return to the forests when the rains begin.
This year, the catastrophic fires that raged for months across Borneo meant there was no forest left to welcome them back.
For
one 150lb orangutan called Jambu, there was only one hope: to be saved
by an expert team from International Animal Rescue working in Ketapang,
West Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
Jambu had
outstayed his welcome on a rambutan fruit plantation to such an extent
that he became target practice for one disconsolate villager who had
fired pot shots at him with an airgun.
It is the large male orangutans that are finding themselves in trouble in their cremated wilderness |
As the video
shows, Jambu was so frightened from his ordeal that he had taken to
trees and had to be tranquilised with a dart before being taken to a
sanctuary.
Jambu almost missed the net as he
fell from the trees, cutting his face, which needed stitching before he
could be carried away to safety.
When he was given a veterinary check, medics found several pellets lodged in his body from his ordeal as an airgun target.
Jambu
is not alone as a victim of the forest fires that caused an
environmental crisis during the autumn, leaving more than 75,000 people
suffering the effects of choking smog.
Decades
of illegal logging for oil palm and pulp plantations and the drying
effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon help conspire to create the
worst forest conflagrations in years, much of it across prime wilderness
habitat.
An orangutan grasps the hand of a rescue worker |
With no forest, the orangutans and other wildlife had to go wandering for their food.
A
second video shows how a 20 year old orangutan called Mata was found by
villagers eating their banana crop after his forest haunts had been
turned to black ash and barren soil.
Footage
shows him huddling among the leaves of a banana plant, in a desperate
attempt to avoid being seen by those who had come to save him.
Mata was soon tranquilised and taken to safety, but if left, he could easily have been killed as a pest.
"The
saddest image you can think of is a magnificent orangutan like Mata
that should be travelling in the top of the canopy but instead has to
drag itself across the ground, struggling even to find a standing tree
suitable to make a nest," say Gail Campbell-Smith, programme manager of
IAR Indonesia.
"An extra concern is that, as
habitat is wiped out, instances of human- orangutan conflict increase
and these orangutans are in danger of being killed by farmers as they
enter their land in search of food."
With no forest, the orangutans and other wildlife had to go wandering for their food |
Mata and Jambu
will be cared for at IAR's Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sungai
Awan, Ketapang, until there is suitable release site for them.
Alan
Knight OBE, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, said: "It's
a great relief to know that both these beautiful orangutans are now
safe. These rescue operations are extremely challenging as the videos
show. Jambu's rescue was carried out in torrential rain and Karmele, our
programme director, is seen expertly sewing up his cut face after he
fell wide of the net.
"This is the nature of the
work. It is physically and emotionally draining and things don't always
go according to plan. But the fact is that these orangutans now stand a
chance of a new life in a new location, whereas without our team's
intervention they would almost certainly both be dead or close to it by
now.
"While the situation for orangutans in
Indonesia is still extremely precarious, when I consider the work of our
team in West Borneo and the phenomenal support we are receiving from
people around the world, I am still hopeful for their future.
"As
we enter the New Year, we must believe that together we can rebuild a
safe environment and a bright future for these magnificent great apes."
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