Simon at Sepilok

Sogo is still quarantined on her own but still fighting her illness. No change in her condition :-

Today Vicky, Nick and I started the Outdoor Nursery work.

According to the job spec, this area is home to the Juveniles, generally aged between five and eight years old. These Orang-Utans are fed at the nursery and on the tourist platform. Their food is taken to different platforms to ensure that they learn to search for their food. This ensures the Orang-Utan do not become reliant on food being at a particular platform each day. Possible duties include:
- Collecting the bananas from the storeroom and taking them via wheelbarrow to the nursery.
- Sweeping leaves from surrounding paths and clearing nursery area.
- Feeding Bananas to orang-utans at the outdoor nursery.
- Assisting the rangers by carrying bananas to the tourist platform (done twice daily)
- Completing an observation sheet on Orang-Utans who attended the feeding platform (done twice daily).
When working in this area there is plenty of time for observation of the orang-utans in their natural surroundings.

Actually, at the moment this area is fairly quiet. There are currently no orangutans making the transition from the Indoor to the Outdoor nursery, so the Outdoor nursery cage (where new arrivals are kept for 2 weeks) is empty. Only about 8 or 9 of the orangutans who are free choose to hang around this area and hence are visible close-up to us there, although there are about 25 orangutans who will sometimes choose to come in from the Reserve and go to the tourist feeding platform.

So after we had swept the platforms and paths and taken bananas to the new banana store near the feeding platform (which hold enough for both feeding sessions) our work here was pretty much done here.
That meant we were able to watch the feeding session with the tourists today and were treated to some great antics from Doggy (!) and the macaques and also from the biggest male, 17 year old Mister G.

We are now supposed to go back and help out with the Indoor Nursery group both morning and afternoon so that more of the youngsters can be taken out for exercise.
Unfortunately, none of the other infants and juveniles are being allowed out today - this is supposedly to keep them away from the wet grass areas which suggests the main worry is still the Melio bacteria.
A chance for some more digging maybe...