KEPOMPONG

ORANG UTAN

They call Borneo their home, for more than 60% of the total Orang Utan population live in Borneo, in a small island surrounded by a river. Native to Indonesia, in the rain forest of Sumatra and Kalimantan specifically, Orang Utan is the only Asian living genus of great ape. The word Orang Utan is adopted from Indonesian, in which orang means man and utan means forest.

The forest fire that broke out a couple of times in Kalimantan has left many baby Orang Utan without roof over their head. Thanks to the Borneo Orang Utan Survival Foundation who establishes an education centre in Nyaru Sampang as to prepare the babies to get ready once they are set free in the rain forest.

Nearby Nyaru Sampang there is an island where Orang Utan are set free into their real habitat. Every lunchhour a boat will sail to the island. A bunch of Orang Utan will cluster nearby the boat, waiting for their food. We took Klotok, a small traditional boat, to travel around the island to see the Orang Utan. Even though we arrived behind schedule, we managed to see a big Orang Utan among the branches nearby the riverwith a big plastic on his head to protect himself from the burning sun. He was sitting on the branches in the swampy area nearby the water. The root of the the Rhizophora plants have turned the water black.