Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine
In late 1998, the Orangutan Foundation
International (OFI) completed the construction of its new Orangutan
Care Center and Quarantine (OCC&Q) facility in the village of Pasir
Panjang, a suburb of the city of Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan
or Central Indonesian Borneo. This is near Tanjung Puting
National Park, home of the famous Camp Leakey,
founded in 1971 by Dr.
Biruté Galdikas.
Front of the new Orangutan Care Center and
Quarantine facility.
The OCC&Q is presently staffed by a full-time
Indonesian veterinarian with a local medical doctor always on call. In
addition, volunteer medical support has come from all over the world to
save orangutans and has included nurses, nurse practitioner, medical
doctors (pediatrician, cardiologist, anesthesiologist, surgeon), vets,
and vet students. In the coming months, the OCC&Q will continued to
be staffed by volunteer medical professionals and equipped with donated
medical equipment and supplies that will provide a more extensive level
of care.
Dr. Rosa M. Garriga with Jutot, a 2-year
orangutan |
Lydia plays in the nursery forest. |
The OCC&Q is a joint program of OFI and Indonesian government which
was formalized in a Memorandum of
Understanding signed by OFI President Biruté Galdikas and
PHPA Director General Soemarsono in 1996. Since that time, OFI has been
fundraising and carefully navigating the proper government channels to
ensure the proper groundwork was ready for the building itself. With an
accepted Plan of Operation, OFI began construction in 1998 and had a
soft opening of the facility in November, 1998. On May 20, 1999, OFI
signed an agreement with PKA (formerly PHPA) which establishes the
OCC&Q as an offical co-managed program of orangutan conservation in
Indonesia.
OFI is proud of the success attained from the high
level of care that has been given to the orphaned orangutans that have
come to the OFI Nursery over the past several years. Dr. Galdikas and
her staff have provided the type of attention and care that enables
over 90% of the orphans to recover from their trauma of disease, injury
or malnutrition within the first six months at the Nursery. This is a
level of success unparalleled for this species in Indonesia. Yet, OFI
is confident that the new OCC&Q will enable OFI and PHPA to improve
on its already impressive track record.
OFI currently cares for nearly 120 orangutan
orphans. The OCC&Q will enable Indonesian wildlife officers,
police, OFI staff and concerned individuals to bring confiscated, sick
and injured orangutans to a facility in Central Kalimantan capable of
providing the highest quality of medical care.
OFI still needs the financial
and material assistance of everyone concerned with the survival of the
most helpless of these endangered great apes.
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