Science and experience

Our team has made the most of the somewhat quieter time at the quarantine and rehabilitation centre during the pandemic. It optimised its processes and procedures leading to an increase in the quality of its work. Among other things, the question «When is an orangutan ready for reintroduction?» was put under the microscope. A partner university familiarised our team in how to use «behavioural monitoring» prior to reintroduction. From now on, healthy and adult orangutans that appear ready for release will be systematically observed three times a day for half an hour each at the quarantine and rehabilitation centre. The behaviour of the animals is meticulously recorded and compared with reference data. This analysis, combined with the experience of the keepers and their regular observations, leads to a better picture upon which the time of release can be based on. Once this decision has been taken, the transport to one of our reintroduction stations follows and only a few months will remain before the animals can live freely in a protected rainforest.