Friday, February 17, 2006
Bring on the Orangutans!
Feeling much better now i'm doing the Animal Curator role. But we all have a problem with the program in that our contact with the Orangutans is less than we imagined it would be. At Sepilok we hear that the others are all very busy and involved in all aspects of the care and rehabilitaion of Orangutans, but here even the Animal Curator is only involved maybe 30% of the day with them. Not once have i been given cage cleaning duties or been asked to help with the daily medical checks.
It has helped that the staff are opening up a bit more to us and vice versa. There are a lot more smiles all round (even from Nick, who has the gardening role now...) so maybe things will open up over the next few days. Even if not for our group, maybe the duties will be sorted out a bit better for the other 3 groups that follow us.
As an example, this afternoon i was asked to take all 3 of the Orangutans up to the feeding platform on my own. Once up there i had 20 wonderful minutes alone watching them playing, before the other Rangers and then the guests arrived. That was a very special time for me.
Also memorable (but not generating quite as much pleasure) was the bite on the chest that Austin gave me on the way back down, both he and Joey love to chew on either your wellies or your hands. Just like human children playing a game of "how far can i push this until i get a reaction?". My loud "OWWWW!!" seemed to make Austin realise that was enough for the day!
Today was also the first Orangutan feeding session that Francesca managed to get into. As a Dad I felt so proud watching Fran taking her pictures of the apes and clearly being captivated by the whole experience. I'm so glad she's been able to share a little bit of this project with me.
All say aaaaah.......
Another refreshing dip in the pool after work and a lovely dinner at Naan, the hotel's Indian restaurant.
Of course, for the 3 of us back in our little room later it was still hotter than any of the curries at Naan......... :-)
It has helped that the staff are opening up a bit more to us and vice versa. There are a lot more smiles all round (even from Nick, who has the gardening role now...) so maybe things will open up over the next few days. Even if not for our group, maybe the duties will be sorted out a bit better for the other 3 groups that follow us.
As an example, this afternoon i was asked to take all 3 of the Orangutans up to the feeding platform on my own. Once up there i had 20 wonderful minutes alone watching them playing, before the other Rangers and then the guests arrived. That was a very special time for me.
Also memorable (but not generating quite as much pleasure) was the bite on the chest that Austin gave me on the way back down, both he and Joey love to chew on either your wellies or your hands. Just like human children playing a game of "how far can i push this until i get a reaction?". My loud "OWWWW!!" seemed to make Austin realise that was enough for the day!
Today was also the first Orangutan feeding session that Francesca managed to get into. As a Dad I felt so proud watching Fran taking her pictures of the apes and clearly being captivated by the whole experience. I'm so glad she's been able to share a little bit of this project with me.
All say aaaaah.......Another refreshing dip in the pool after work and a lovely dinner at Naan, the hotel's Indian restaurant.
Of course, for the 3 of us back in our little room later it was still hotter than any of the curries at Naan......... :-)
// posted by storri @ 11:59 am 
