Almost 20 years ago, in 1994, the author of bestseller Terry Pratchett first met Kusasi alpha male in the tropical forests of Tanjung Puting, Borneo. As Terry shared his thoughts with Dr. Birute Galdikas about his encounter with this giant orangutan in the recent documentary, Facing Extinction , she tenderly nodded, "He has done all an impact on you. "
Kusasi in fact, with his persistent gaze and large cheek pads made such an impact that despite rare form of Alzheimer Pratchett, he traveled through the moss and slippery ditches peat to find him. But Kusasi was not to be found, and his proud successor Tom was discovered, relaxing in the sun. Dr. Galdikas explained why there about ten years, "Tom realized Kusasi's arm was broken ... they fought and of course Tom did so much damage to him Kusasi was just lying there when we rescued him. "
reign as king of Kusasi Camp Leakey (the famous research station orangutan) was over he had lived since childhood. both his parents were killed for their meat and was wary of humans. After reaching the camp, he escaped from the care of Dr. Galdikas and remarkably survived himself.
now aged 60, Dr. Galdikas is full of mystery and I remember the first time I met him in 2011 when I accepted as a communications officer for his NGOs - Orangutan Foundation International (OFI). It was about ten o'clock at night, when two other volunteers and I got a call to visit Dr. Galdikas. With torches, we checked his garden path for snakes in the shadows of the durian trees. Having lived in Borneo for over forty years, Dr. Galdikas was very "Indonesian" in the sense that she had an attitude very "fluid" and relaxed about the time! Waiting in his living room, we talked with her husband Pak Bohap who smoked kretek cigarettes.
Finally Dr. Galdikas has opened two large doors and invited us into his private back room. We went through his desk in a large room filled with Dayak objects she had collected over the years, as well as a photograph of a young Pak Bohap. His home life was breathing and I felt very nervous stroke. But Dr. Galdikas relaxed us with his endless stories and describes his first adventures in the rainforest
but a passion drove him -. Orangutans - and during my tenure with OFI, a health center in Pangkalan Bun held about 330 orphans in need of rehabilitation. As there was a policy of "never turn an animal away 'increasingly victims of deforestation were tributary - put strains on the crowded center. Many were orphans whose mothers were killed, often on plantations. BIF and volunteers raised funds to build 35 more sleeping pregnant for orphans and funds were also raised to purchase forestland - where 32 rehabilitated orangutans were released this year. Unfortunately, some of the greatest men were too strong and dangerous for the liberation of the day in the forest and were placed on a waiting list to be released into the wild. Meanwhile, OFI hopes to raise funds to build larger enclosures and buy more release sites.
In nature, a child will receive constant care of his mother for six years before it can survive independently, so each orphan care center was allocated a surrogate mother who taught orangutan skills to ensure a successful rehabilitation; but not all cases was successful and orphans did not survive the trauma of losing their mother and their forest home. Because of the influx of orphans, I helped veterinarians at the clinic by powering rich slurry nutrients orangutans underweight and I bonded with Berman - a female orangutan who grumpy, once fired a burst from my hand
orangutans charismatic coaxed deeper into the forest and in the Camp Leakey I met Pak Umar smoking a pipe carved by hand. Dayak great storyteller, he explained that one night, while sleeping in the lodge of the guard, he was awakened and dragged out of bed by Kusasi who dropped out and casually strolled away . It was not a fair contest - male orangutans may have the strength of eight men. After this incident, Pak Umar was no doubt - Kusasi was definitely the boss
However, I sympathize with Pratchett and the connection he felt with Kusasi, since I often think Berman. Pratchett has never seen Kusasi again and I contacted some of the guards at Tanjung Puting for more. The good news is that they still hear his "long calls" - are deep bellows emitted by males. However, Androw, a ranger patrol said, "Kusasi was not seen at the camp and also to the power of location. In fact, many people assume that Tom enlargens its territory Kusasi is pushed far from the camp. once we did a patrol north of the camp, to post 17, Crocodile Lake and Lake Batang, but there was still no sign of Kusasi. "
However, determination of Kusasi I hope, is a metaphor for the fate of the species facing extinction. The major problem for orangutans is habitat loss caused by the pressures of Sawit , or palm oil plantations. Thank you to the work strenuous ecologists like Dr. Galdikas, small pockets of forest are protected and the fighting spirit of the last orangutans can find refuge. As explained by Dr. Galdikas, "Kusasi joined this caste of wandering nomads men who have lost their dominance and men can walk the forest for years. He will not give up. It will not simply abandon"
Additional Information
Documentary :.
Terry Pratchett Facing extinction
Julia Robert of in wild
Books
Reflections of Eden by Dr. Galdikas
Website:
Orangutan Foundation International: www .orangutan .org
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