Orangutans fight for their survival on a protected island

Orangutans fight for their survival on a protected island

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1020413/Orangutans-fight-survival-protected-island.html
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By Claire Bates

A group of young orangutans have been given a second chance at living in the wild, thanks to the hard work of a former air-stewardess.

The primates were driven from rainforests in Borneo after logging and forest fires destroyed their habitat.

Lone Dröscher Nielsen began working with the apes as a volunteer while she was a flight attendant with a Swedish airline. In 1999 she founded the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Project in Indonesia, which has become the largest primate rescue project in the world.

Bonita and Cha Cha share a snack while sitting on a branch of a tree.

Lone comforts orangutan Angalie. Many primates have been forced out of the rainforests by logging. Ms Nielsen also established an island sanctuary where orphaned baby orangutans are taught the skills they need to survive in the wild.

Unlike wild orangutans, who are solitary creatures, 35 youngsters live on the protected island in a community. Their progress is to be featured in a new TV series called Orangutan Island.

The stars of the show include the dominant one-eyed Chen Chen, who rules the roost. Jasmine the femme fatale and Saturnus the clown.
Over the weeks we see gentle Cha Cha struggle without human attention while boisterous Compost adapts easily to independent life. There is high drama when an intruding orangutan kidnaps Jasmine, leading to a daring rescue by the other youngsters, and tragedy strikes when one of the primates dies.

“As a whole the orangutans have done very well, fending for themselves on the island," Ms Nielsen said.

"There have been a few who have not done as well but they have survived and will continue to improve.”

Rehabilitation projects like these are vital to the survival of the species. Less than 50,000 orangutans are thought to remain in the wild and are split into small, fragmented populations.

The primates have lost 80 per cent of their habitat in the last twenty years due to logging. Further loss of lowland forests could lead to their extinction.

Orangutan Island begins on Animal Planet on Monday, May 26, at 9pm.