BBC Knowledge Asia Edition

ollywood special effects could not create a

more extraordinary face. It appears to have

been fashioned from a rusting satellite dish,

cheeks broad and flattened into flanges. In the centre,

formidable jaws are edged with fearsome yellow teeth

and canines that would make a lion proud. This would

be a nightmare vision but for a wispy, bright, golden

beard and tousled mop of ginger hair crowning his head.

He is a dominant male Sumatran orangutan – the

even rarer relative of the Bornean orangutan – and he

is temporarily unconscious, having been darted with

tranquilliser. The ape has slipped from his perch in the

crown of a tall tree into a net held taut by rescuers

from the Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit

(HOCRU), an inspirational project that is run by the

Sumatra-based Orangutan Information Centre (OIC).

It’s vital that the ape is sedated for as little time as

possible so, wrapped in the net, he’s whisked through

scrubby remnants of jungle, across peat swamp and

muddy ditches. Finally the rescue team reaches a

gravel path where the ape’s limp body is carefully

laid, his massive head cradled on a hand the size of a

tennis racket.

The four members of HOCRU meticulously check

the orangutan for signs of injury or illness, sporting blue

gloves and surgical masks. Such strict precautions are

necessary because these primates share 97 per cent of our

DNA, and are susceptible to most human diseases.

This male is thin and scrawny. Instead of a glorious

coat of long, red hair, he has large patches of bald skin.

Blood samples are taken, cuts stitched and wounds

sprayed with antiseptic. His teeth are photographed for

dental records. “Over the past four years we’ve rescued

more than 80 orangutans and so far there’s been zero

mortality,” HOCRU vet Ricko Jaya tells me, as he

injects a microchip under the skin. “This one’s very

malnourished, perhaps about 40kg. A male orangutan his

age should be double that, or maybe even 100kg.”

REFUGEE RESCUE

HOCRU is dedicated to rescuing orangutans, and

this one is lucky. He’ll survive – but for now he is a

refugee, ethnically cleansed from his rainforest habitat

to meet the growing worldwide demand for

palm oil, with the UK accounting for roughly

H

The adult orangutan on the previous pages is checked

out by HOCRU vet Ricko Jaya, who also deftly inserts

a microchip under her skin

Sumatran orangutans are not

independent until eight or

nine years old

38 Vol. 8 Issue 3

NATURE

38 Vol. 8 Issue 3