Title – Orang-utan
Date – August 1997
Location - Sumatra - Indonesia
The Orang-utan (literally translates to ‘Man of the Forest’) is truly the closet evolutionary creature to human beings themselves. When you look into their eyes they seem to have an immediate connection with you. The displays of emotion and sensitivity they show towards their young, the agility they show swinging from branch to branch and their every day mannerisms really evoke feelings that they understand you and you understand them.
But don’t be fooled; these are wild animals and although there can be no doubt as to the evolutionary proximity they have to us, get in their way and the animal instinct is much more powerful then any human ones. Orang-utans are truly beautiful animals and getting a close look at one in the wild is a magical experience, but sadly they are extremely endangered and only to be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where despite valiant efforts of locals and NGO’s their numbers continue to dwindle, as habitats disappear.
The rehabilitation centres at Bohorok in Sumatra and Sepilok in Borneo are great places to visit and support, encounters with orang-utans here are guaranteed. The release programmes tend to involve a structure; rehabilitation, followed by release into controlled areas where they are fed daily, until ready to be moved back into the primary rainforest to fend for themselves. It is this aspect of their familiarity with humans that can lead to relocated apes being encountered on treks through their new territories. It is the newly learned skill of demanding food that creates unwanted and dangerous encounters with humans. The sound of a fully grown Orang-utan crashing through the trees to demand food from you, is very similar to the felling of a tree and will set you running for safety behind a very large tree and clutching very large sticks with which to defend yourself.
We realise that we can only teach people through our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop how to act in a safe manner and we can’t follow them while they are on their trip. But by presenting our information in the context of our experiences, means that individuals attending, actually understand why we instruct people as we do and the information is not just thrust out there purely ‘in theory’.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Date – August 1997
Location - Sumatra - Indonesia
The Orang-utan (literally translates to ‘Man of the Forest’) is truly the closet evolutionary creature to human beings themselves. When you look into their eyes they seem to have an immediate connection with you. The displays of emotion and sensitivity they show towards their young, the agility they show swinging from branch to branch and their every day mannerisms really evoke feelings that they understand you and you understand them.
But don’t be fooled; these are wild animals and although there can be no doubt as to the evolutionary proximity they have to us, get in their way and the animal instinct is much more powerful then any human ones. Orang-utans are truly beautiful animals and getting a close look at one in the wild is a magical experience, but sadly they are extremely endangered and only to be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where despite valiant efforts of locals and NGO’s their numbers continue to dwindle, as habitats disappear.
The rehabilitation centres at Bohorok in Sumatra and Sepilok in Borneo are great places to visit and support, encounters with orang-utans here are guaranteed. The release programmes tend to involve a structure; rehabilitation, followed by release into controlled areas where they are fed daily, until ready to be moved back into the primary rainforest to fend for themselves. It is this aspect of their familiarity with humans that can lead to relocated apes being encountered on treks through their new territories. It is the newly learned skill of demanding food that creates unwanted and dangerous encounters with humans. The sound of a fully grown Orang-utan crashing through the trees to demand food from you, is very similar to the felling of a tree and will set you running for safety behind a very large tree and clutching very large sticks with which to defend yourself.
We realise that we can only teach people through our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop how to act in a safe manner and we can’t follow them while they are on their trip. But by presenting our information in the context of our experiences, means that individuals attending, actually understand why we instruct people as we do and the information is not just thrust out there purely ‘in theory’.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
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