Bogor, West Java, Oct 18: The uncertainty is finally over for three homeless orangutans which had been thrown into a limbo of bureaucratic delay and become the center of an international controversy. They are now in the care of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) at a special facility following their transfer from an Indonesian government holding compound. The release had been held up for several days while plans were made to accommodate their needs in the new location.

On Sunday morning, October 16, 2010, BOSF Regional Program Manager for East Kalimantan, Aschta Boestani, together with Ali Munthaha, Program Manager of East Kalimantan Orangutan Reintroduction Program at Samboja Lestari, and the medical team headed by Agus Irwanto, traveled to the branch office of the Indonesian Natural Resources Conservation Board (BKSDA) facility in Tenggarong, East Kalimantan, where the three orangutans were being held. Aschta engaged in talks with government officials there to ensure that there would be no problems with the transfer of the orangutans to BOSF and that the legal documents from the government would be ready.

Meanwhile, a team of medical personnel and caretakers from the BOSF Orangutan Reintroduction Center at Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan, who were there to check on the health of the three orangutans, traveled to Tenggarong, East Kalimantan and took possession of the three orphans from the officials of BKSDA. The team, led by Aschta, transported the three orangutans to a place called Halfway House, around 23 kilometers from the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Reintroduction Program. They will remain there until they are thoroughly examined medically.

On arrival at their destination, team leader Aschta sent an email to BOSF headquarters  reporting on their progress. "Our team from Samboja Lestari and the three orangutans have arrived safely at Halfway House on the Sungai Merdeka (Freedom River).  Jo and Abdul have already been put into their separate enclosures and Bulu is in the care of a babysitter", she wrote.

The three orangutans include 1 year-old Bulu, who was found on a palm oil plantation in Sebulu; Jo, who is approximately 6 years old and whose place of origin is yet to be determined; and Abdul, who is around 3-4 years old and also with a clouded history. Bulu has been at the BKSDA center for only about a week while Abdul and Jo have been there 3-4 months. Ordinarily, stray orangutans are held by the BKSDA while an investigation is made into their history. If it is shown that they are victims of loggers or palm oil plantations, the authorities seek to hold the offending companies liable. The information is then included in the seizure documents or provided once an investigation completed.

The saga began last week when BOSF was informed of the presence of the three orangutans by a local NGO, Center for Orangutan Protection (COP), and asked to immediately "rescue" the three orangutans from the BKSDA shelter. In a press release, BOSF CEO E. G. Togu Manurung, Ph.D. explained the legal issues involved and that BOSF could not intervene without government permission and permits.  BOSF executives were then flooded with email from around the world accusing the organization of not caring about the three stranded orangutans. The campaign was organized by COP and some of their foreign partners.

"We did this as quickly as we possibly could considering the legal procedures we had to follow.  It has been very sad for us to be criticized for something we had no control over.  Our team has been assembled and standing by at Samboja Lestari since last week, when this first came to our attention. We already issued a press release explaining this but apparently some people did not pay attention," said Togu, Ph.D.

At the time, BOSF was conducting an international donor conference at a hotel in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan to discuss funding issues for the upcoming release of hundreds of rehabilitated orangutans from its two reintroduction centers; the one at Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan and the other at Nyaru Menteng, Central Kalimantan. The issue of the three stranded orangutans was raised with donor organizations attending the conference and there were immediate offers, notably from BOS Germany and BOS Australia, to fund the relocation of the three orangutans and make provisions for their immediate care. "We informed those organizing this email campaign that we were in the process of solving this problem but they refused to listen, insisting that we act immediately. Those orangutans are the property of the Indonesian government and we work closely with the Indonesian government in their goal to rehabilitate and release all ex-captive orangutans. We had to follow the letter of the law in taking possession of them," said Togu, Ph.D.

In the meantime, Togu, Ph.D. continued to lobby the government persistently in an effort to speed up the paperwork so that BOSF could take possession of the orangutans as quickly as possible.  Finally, on Sunday afternoon, he received word that the papers would be issued that afternoon. Upon receiving the papers, the orangutans were taken to their new home.

The underfunded and overworked BKSDA was only too happy to see the three orangutans moved from their temporary holding site.

 "We have worked for a long time with BOS Foundation in solving the problems associated with captive orangutans. The BOS Foundation has been very helpful to us in addressing these problems," said Kuspriyadi Sulstiyo, the Head of BKSDA for East Kalimantan.

BOSF is an NGO that is world-renowned for its work in rehabilitating born-in-the-wild ex-captive orangutans and releasing them back to the wild. In April and June of this year, BOSF took in eight orangutan babies that had been confiscated by BKSDA. Currently, however, the two BOSF reintroduction centers are full of rehabilitated orangutans awaiting release next year. The two centers are under strict quarantine due to the necessity to keep all rehabilitated orangutans free from diseases such as TB and Hepatitis, which are endemic amongst the country’s orangutan population.

"The three orangutans received from the BKSDA Sunday will be housed outside the Samboja Lestari facility but close enough for medical personnel and caretakers to provide the best possible care", said Togu, Ph.D., noting that any intake of new orangutans at this time could jeopardize the safety of the overall release program. The intake of new orangutans also creates funding problems for BOSF, which relies on a network of foreign donors to support its release activities.

"While organizations like COP seem to see us as the logical place for all stray orangutans, that cannot be the case as we have neither the space nor the funding. If these activists were serious about helping displaced orangutans they should think about setting up a special facility and soliciting donors to support it. We know that this is really the responsibility of the government, but we also know that the government is not financially able to take care of the potentially hundreds of stray orangutans that are confiscated by them from illegal traders, palm oil plantations and logging concessions," explained Togu, Ph.D. He added that "it was very unfair for BOSF to be blamed for not solving all of the country’s problems regarding displaced orangutans. We call on all stakeholders concerned with orangutan survival to work together to solve these issues.  If we cannot do that, what hope is there for the future of the species?"

"We at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) have found it very heartening to see that there are so many ardent supporters of orangutan welfare and survival throughout the world. From the hundreds of passionate emails we have received in recent days it is evident that the cause is one that does not lack for broad public interest", said Togu, Ph.D.

"Unfortunately, many of the critical emails we have received, though well-intentioned, were based upon some assumptions that were not in keeping with the facts. There were also some instances regarding incorrect media stories that further complicated and inflamed the issue. Be that as it may, this statement is not meant as a rebuttal to those emails or an admonishment to those who wrote them. Nor is it a condemnation of those who disseminated incorrect information. We feel that we are all on the same page regarding our sincerity in addressing the issue of animal welfare in general and survival of the Bornean orangutan as a species in specific. We view every single person who took the time to send an email as a friend and ally in our mutual cause", he added, concluding with the thought that "perhaps these committed individuals might better use their resources and energy toward helping find and fund a solution to the problem".

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