Force for the Forest

Keeping the last lowland SE Asian rainforest safe.

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Our close cousin is an incredibly intelligent animal. Did you know that he keeps a map in his head, which tells him where the fruit trees are fruiting and when – even more difficult when you consider that in the resource-poor environment that is the rainforest, some trees only fruit once in four years!
The young Orang-utan spends the first five to seven years with mum, during which time he learns where the trees are and when they fruit, building up his mind map. This is why it is not possible to rehabilitate an Orang-utan to the wild. Captive orang-utans were always babies when caught (by murdering mum) and brought up by people, thus not developing a mind map. In the rehabilitation centre at Bohorok, the orang-utan does go back into the forest, but for the rest of his life he will always come back for food hand-outs as his lack of knowledge fails him in finding food. And he lives a good forty to fifty years.
This is also why ‘sustainable logging’ is rubbish – it murders 60% of the Orang-utan in the forest, because it takes out some of the fruit trees – and there is no alternative in their map. They starve to death looking for another fruiting tree and waiting for their next one to ripen.
The orang-utan is a very tough, strong animal. Living in the trees as he does, he actually has four arms and no legs. The hunters after babies to sell as pets will need to shoot mum about ten times before she actually falls out of the tree, and she can still hang on with two broken arms.
The only good news is that in the Leuser ecosystem that is home to most of the remaining Sumatran Orang-utan, the local population knows this and report to our rangers anybody who has an illegal baby orang-utan. There has only been one case so far this year, which is a BIG drop, so we are winning this war.
It’s too late for a lovely Orang-utan sub-species that lived near Sibolga in Sumatra. Dark red hair, long fingers, highly intelligent, none have been seen for many a year. But in Leuser we have 7,500 of the main Sumatran species, and there are another 600 to the north that we aim to bring into the reserve next year. They are safe. It is a different story in Borneo, where there may be 11,000 Orang-utan, but they are scattered and in small bits of forest, reduced to eating oil palm nuts. These fractured populations are not really viable. A female Orang-utan has a baby about once every 5 to 7 years, and will have at most 7 in her lifetime, so populations grow very slowly.
How do you recognise an Orang-utan researcher? By the missing fingers…. Occasionally we have had to relocate Orang-utan. We would tranquillise the ape high in the tree with a dart gun. As he gets woozy and sleepy, being very smart he comes down to the ground, where we can throw a net over him. These nets have centimetre thick, heavy nylon cords, but he will still bite through them like cotton. And when the researcher thinks he is asleep, and can start taking his measurements and samples, he is often just awake enough to nip the nearest finger….
Find out more about the work we are doing in Sumatra, where we have saved 7,500 Orang-utan in 25,000 square kilometres of forest, the last remnant of the great expanse that coated SE Asia. www.forcefortheforest.com

Release of two captured tigers into Ulu Masen and Leuser Ecosystem Leuser.
December 2008

Background
In the last two years the poaching of tigers in Aceh has increased greatly. In 2008 alone, at least 20 tigers were taken and the real figure could be twice as high as this. The Aceh tiger population is the largest remaining and may well be the last viable population left in Sumatra. The capturing of tigers at the current rate for whatever reason (for trade, to prevent livestock deaths etc) is unsustainable and must be halted. In the meantime tigers are still being captured under the jurisdiction of KSDA. If these tigers are relocated outside of Aceh or sold to zoos or safari parks, the result to the existing Aceh
population is the same as if the tigers were shot dead. They can no longer contribute their genes to the population.

The interim solution is to relocate captured tigers and to relocated them as soon as possible deeper into the forests of Aceh, where it is hoped they will carve out new ranges and continue to exist in the wild.

In December of 2008, two tigers, captured with the support of KSDA , were being held in orangutan cages at the KDSA office in Banda Aceh. Of the two tigers, one was a male caught two months before in Nagan Raya, and the other, a female, caught less the two weeks previously in Jantho. BPKEL called a series of meetings with the participation of FFI, LIF, WCS, YEL, Vesswic, Yayasan Ekosistem, LBH Lingkungan, Tipereska, and KSDA. A decision was reached that if the tigers were in sufficiently good health they should be relocated – one to the forests of Ulu Masen and the other to the interior of the Leuser Ecosystem.

Certain other conditions would have to be met. Both tigers should be affixed with satellite collars to allow round-the-clock monitoring of the released animals, transport boxes would have to designed and constructed, a helicopter would have to be mobilised, and strict protocols would be put in place while preparing the tiger for removal from the cages at the KSDA office. In addition, teams involving LIF, FFI, and KSDA would be formed to respond quickly if the released tigers were to enter into a local village.

Preparations

After the first meeting BPKEL went ahead and secured a helicopter from Eastindo, and visited local government leaders in Pidie Jaya, Pidie, and Aceh Timur to brief them on the planned releases and to seek written endorsement for the work. All district governments were fully supportive. Meanwhile the Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari (YEL) made two transfer boxes (one for each release) and transported them to the respective bases of operation. The Denver Zoo provide two satellite collars and these were given preliminary field testing by FFI. Both FFI and LIF pledged large amounts of money for the helicopter charter as well as accommodation and logistical backup for the field operatives, and many miscellaneous expenses as well. Both organizations also provided significant technical inputs and advice. A representative of WCS who had previous experience in releasing tigers in the Russian Far
East provided sound advice on the readiness of the tigers to be released . In his opinion both tigers were in good enough condition to undergo relocation. BKSDA asked for additional funds.

First release (Ulu Masen)

At a penultimate meeting in Banda Aceh it was jointly decided that the female tiger (about 1.5 to 2 years in age) would be released in Ulu Masen – specifically in the vicinity of Blang Raweu near the Pidie/Pidie Jaya border. Blang Raweu was selected as a release site on the basis that it had a high density of ungulates, was relatively isolated from any settlements, had abundant water and plenty of cover. It was also within a hour’s flying time (by helicopter from Banda Aceh) – a practical limit from a logistics point of view.

The release was scheduled for December 21, so several days before an FFI field team went out to Blang Raweu to prepare a landing site for the helicopter. Once confirmation had been received that the location had been prepared, an advance party flew out to inspect the site and to assess its condition.

The advance party was left on site to expand the landing area to accommodate the transfer box as well as the helicopter. The night before the planned release, a final coordination meeting was held at the BKSDA office in Banda Aceh, in which data sharing agreements were concluded and joint responsibility for the release effort was officially accepted. BKSDA would not release the tigers from the holding cages at the KDSA office until all pledges had been made.

The morning of December 21 revealed almost perfect weather and the first party consisting representatives of KSDA and FFI flew to the release site to make final preparations and to evacuate the field staff. At the same time the female tiger was tranquilized in her cage, given blood checks, and fitted with a radio collar. She was then placed in the transfer box which was transported to the air force base at Banda Aceh airport. About mid morning the helicopter returned to Banda Aceh, picked up the transfer box using its sling mechanism and immediately flew back to the release site with a vet from Vesswic in
attendance.

At the release site the helicopter placed the box on location and landed a short distance away. Less than an hour later the vet judged the tigress ready for release and all remaining personnel boarded the
helicopter with one person operating the rope to open the door of the transfer box. Within a few minutes of opening the tigress poked her head out of the box and in a few bounds disappeared in the nearby forest. The helicopter returned to Banda Aceh.

Follow up

Since the release the tigress has travelled more than 50 kilometer in a broad oval which has almost brought her back to the place from where she was released. On examination of the data it appears that she has made at least two major kills during this time.

Second release (Leuser Ecosystem)

The base of operations for the second release – for the male tiger of approximately two years – was Langsa, owing to its proximity to any of three potential release sites. A liaison team was sent ahead to Langsa to meet with the heads of police, military and local government leaders.
The transfer box, fuel drums, and other logistics were delivered to Langsa on the 25th of December in anticipation of a release date of the 27th of December – a date predicted to provide good weather.

Senior representatives BPKEL and LIF reached Langsa on 26th of December and met with the local officials. The representatives also met with senior management of PTP1 to secure a safe base for the helicopter operations on the edge of Langsa township. A team of LIF and BPKEL personnel used the helicopter to view potential release sites that would allow for an open approach for the helicopter as well as room to locate the transfer box. The team decided on a location near the Gayo Lues /Aceh Timur border on a braided stream bed.

On the night of the 26th a final coordination meeting was held in Banda Aceh. Most of the final details were quickly agreed but once again KSDA threatened to not release the tigers unless YLI agreed to pay
additional charges for things that had done well before the release project was even considered.

Eventually the situation was resolved, and the tiger was tranquilized shortly after sunset and was on its way in the transfer box to Langsa, where it arrived in the early morning of the December 27.

The operation began at 7.00 am from the PTP1 headquarters on the edge of Langsa township when an advance team of representatives of BPKEL, LIF, and KSDA flew to the release site to make final arrangements, and to confirm river conditions.

The tiger was sedated and had its GPS collar reaffixed so as to ensure that it would remain in place. It was then returned to the transfer box and air-lifted to the release site where it arrived by helicopter, carrying only the pilot and a Vesswic vet, at about 11 am.

After the vet had given the “ green light” for releasing the tiger (about 30 minutes after landing) the door of the transfer box was opened remotely (by a 40 meter length of rope) and soon the tiger appeared and cautiously made its way across the dry gravel beds to the adjacent forest.

The full team then returned by helicopter to Langsa – a distance of about 60 kilometers.

Follow up

Since the tiger was released it has moved more than 10 kilometers from the release site. It may well have made a kill shortly after release because it repeatedly returned to a ridge close to the release site (1
km) over a period of five days. Rusa deer (Cervus unicolor) are abundant in the area and would, if killed by a tiger, provide sufficient food for this period of time. Continuous monitoring continues and
will so until the tiger settles into a stable home range.

Lessons learned

• The most important lesson learned was that it is possible to do tiger releases in Aceh and to monitor the movements of the tigers thereafter with good accuracy.
• The second lesson is that good collaboration and integration of several participating organizations, particularly the conservation NGOs active in Aceh, is a very important component of success. Furthermore this growing cooperation of these partner organizations, along with the
development of mutual trust and confidence, will be of great help in dealing with future conservation challenges.
• The cost of undertaking each relocation was in the order of Rp 120,000,000. This is expensive and may not give the best value for the money outlaid. Relocating captured tigers should thus be seen as a last resort if tigers have already been captured and are healthy (and safe) enough to return to the wild.
• Bureaucratic delays put both release operations in danger of failure. The schedules were designed to give sufficient lead time to do the releases properly, but were also designed to capitalize on windows of good weather, and to minimize the costs of helicopter standby time. Also the people involved in making the operations a success also had tight schedules that had to be honored. Loss of these people at critical stages would have resulted in cancellation of the operations. Thanks to
serious compromises, both releases eventually went ahead as scheduled.

Recommendations

1. A major campaign should be launched to help communities neighbouring conservation areas to better co-exist with tigers (as they have for thousands of years). WCS has apparently begun a program to encourage local farmers in south Aceh to build tiger proof enclosures to house their livestock at night. Such efforts should be increased and additional solutions devised if necessary.

2. The campaign described above should also include a clear message that trapping of tigers is illegal and will be dealt with according to the law.
3. Considering the bureaucratic delays that almost resulted in the cancellation of both releases, it is recommended that the BKSDA be relieved of its current responsibilities in line with the spirit of UU No 11, 2006.
4. To replace the current poor facilities for holding confiscated or captured tigers (and other wildlife), a special rescue facility will be developed by BPKEL which will become the sole authorized holding site for rescue animals pending their future release or other approved
treatments.

Yesterday our rangers found two illegal oil palm plantations deep in the forest, probably totalling 45 hectares (4.5 square kilometres).  We are currently checking the scale of the problem and we expect to cut it down at the end of the fasting month (Ramadan).

We shall just cut down the palms and allow it to revert back to forest, which doesn’t take long.  Of course, the food trees for the Orang-utan are gone, so it will be some time for them to come back.

No doubt that when we go to cut the palms down, the owner will appear and offer a cash incentive for us to go away.  The police will go with our rangers and oversee the operation, and our presence ensures that the cash incentives are ignored…

I have to admire the moral strength of our Indonesian colleagues who go against the cultural grain despite their lack of pay for the last five months.   They truly believe in saving the rainforest.