On the first day we are taken around the entire wildlife centre and introduced to the native environment and the animals. The most logical way is to go through the different animals currently being looked after or rehabilitated here at Matang Wildlife Centre. The orangutans remain the main focus of rehab activity here, (although the sunbears are a very close second) so I will start by introducing them, each of them having individual characters, personalities, backgrounds and futures.
Aman is the dominant male, he is huge, its difficult to get a sense of scale without seeing him for real. I had read quite abit about him so was quiet excited about seeing him. Aman made the headlines last year due to the operation he had, when he had the worlds first operation of its kind on an orangutan, to give him is eyesight back after getting cataracts. The operation was a success with 90% visibility returning. You quickly warm to the big fella, he is alittle moody, likes the ladies but you are extra careful to keep a safe distance and remain on your guard, he’s a big strong fella who could cause serious harm. He has the most gentle look in his eyes though, the way he moves around is fascinating to watch, I could watch him for hours. The flanges (large cheeks) are the visible sign that he is a dominant male, if another male came into his area and fought for that position and won, aman flanges would go down! They look quite hard in photos but they are actually soft.
Aman
Chiam and her baby boy
When I arrived at Matang Gante and Chiam had both given birth to baby boys, two days earlier on the same day. I felt extremely lucky to meet them, although Ganti didn’t come out of the hessian sack that she took comfort in hiding in for the first weeks, below in one of the first pictures taken of her out of the sack. Chiam was alot more confident in the early weeks and was making her way around the outdoor enclosures, and showing off her new baby boy. We witnessed a moment when Chiam and Ganti, showed each other their new boys to each other, very cute. Orangutans only have off springs once every 8 years, so based on that you can see why its so important that orangutans are protected, as increasing their numbers is no quick turnaround, the mothers teach there new borns all the skills for the wild, and are the best teachers they can have.
Seeing them both with the their babies and how tentative they are is a beautiful sight, the best way to share this is by watching this video that Hilary took for me
Ganti and her baby boy
Doris is an older female who has alot of character and due to her background will be harder to rehabilitate for the wild but there has been alot of progress made and she does have trips out into the jungle were thanks to Leo Biddle has come on leaps and bounds. During my time there she wasn’t going out into the wild as much she has been but I believe this was set to change. She is very active, bright and cheeky, the challenge will always be around making her more wild and to lose the habits she picked up in her early years, posing for the camera etc..
doris
Ting San is beautiful, and have to say if pushed to choose, my favourite. You can read more about her history here . She is coming on really well, enjoying going out to the jungle and is less willing to come back which is a good sign, they feel she is definatly on the road to being released back into the wild.
Ting San
Mamu has developed a great relationship with Ting san, they share an enclosure together alot of the time and also during my time at Matang they often went out into the jungle together for rehab were they have helped each other in developing their skills for the wild. They have a caring and very playful relationship with each other and I really enjoyed watching them together.
here you can read more facts and information about this magnificent great apes.
World Foote Steps 
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