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VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES REPORT - February, 2000
Tanjung Puting National Park
by Drh. I Gede Suarsadana
Dear Friends
Greeting from the Friends of National Parks Foundation.
First of all we are apologize for our late report due we had some emergency matter at the park.
In this occasion I would tell our sincere apreciation to our donator that make us can continue our ativity until today.
We just lossed two orangutans named Yuyun and Pramono. Both of them dissapear and we are keep trying to find them to make sure if they disappeared because of a certain problem, stollen or they go wild.
As the new polotical situation in Indonesia that make some changing in the people atitude not only in political meaning but also in the other topic.This situation influence some of the people opinion about how to preserve our forest especially in Tanjung Puting National Park.
Some people become very destructive to the park especially in logging activity. Right now the illegal logger not only cut the wood which is close to the river but even go further to the primary forest. The forestry department officer could not stop them much due most of the logger are well orgenize and they are very agresive and armed.
The good news is there are more and more people also aware about the park pereservation. Some NGOs started to make a protest and trying to figure out how to solve the problem. We hope by gather everybody / organisation who have a same idea about the importance of the forest preservation will can stop the logging activity eventually.
Yours faithfully,
I Gede Bayu Wirayudha
FNPF Derector
Here below our volunteer report from our vet Drh. I Gede Suarsedana.
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Volunteer Activities Report, During February I remained at the first camp " Tanjung Harapan"
with occasional visits to second post camp " Pondok Tanggui "
February,2000.
By I Gede Suarsedana.
There were no serious problems with the orangutans this month. The only minor problem was with the young male Alui who suffered from conjungtivitis in her eyes with a slight discharge. I treated this with eye drops containing rifampicin over a period of 5 days and this now cleared up. All the orangutans here except Davida are undergoing a routine worming programme involving subcutaneous injection of ivermectine.
However the new orangutan Yuyun very rarely returns to the the camp and so far it has been impossible to re-evaluate her condition or proceed with the worming programme. Michael, the young male Gibbon showed up with a lacceration on his elbow, which was not too serious, but was cleaned with antiseptic and left to heal naturally, and he is showing no ill effects. Michael enjoys contact with the humans and does not seem to want to leave the camp area.
The rehabilitation of Gibbons is very hard due to their territorial nature. Any humanised Gibbon re-introduced into the wild would be under threat from the resident Gibbon families and would be attacked. In the last few weeks a wild Gibbon has been seen close to the rangers house. It is possible that this is the previous gibbon " Magic " released some time ago who has not been seen since his release.
Pondok Tanggui
The female orangutans Kopral and Korin who were moved from first camp have shown a huge inprovement in their condition, while at Tanjung Harapan Kopral in particular showed signs of alopecia which now sees to have cleared up completely and the condition of their hair is good. This may be due to less contact with the ground at Pindok Tanggui. They are very close and one is never seen without the other, and they still try to make contact with people. As yet I am unable to make any report on the orangutans at Third Camp "Camp Leakey"
Best Regards
Drh. I Gede Suarsedana
FNPF Volunteer