Help to Monitor and Protect Orangutans in Borneo

All through 2022, the wonderful BOS Foundation Post Release Monitoring (PRM) team in the Bukit Batikap Protection Forest has continued their tireless efforts to monitor the reintroduced orangutans and collect data from the camera traps, which has been amazing. Although some of the cameras are now in need of repair or replacement, thanks to your incredible support we are busy behind the scenes making this happen.

In the meantime, we have been processing the images received and have some new photos to share! One of the highlights is definitely these rare image captures of white-fronted langurs (Presbytis frontana). It is unusual to observe this species on the ground and we were delighted to see two very clear images of these langurs – one of them which was feeding. These beautiful primates are endemic to the island of Borneo and categorized in the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable since their population is believed to have declined by 30% in the last 30 years. It is wonderful to see them surviving and we hope thriving in Batikap.

Many other species continue to be recorded on the cameras – especially pig-tailed macaques, who always seem to take great pleasure in hanging out in front of the cameras either feeding, grooming or resting. We especially loved this little macaque who was obviously intrigued with the camera and stopped for a pose.

In the next few months, we’ll be posting more news and the amazing images that we have captured and also bringing you an update on the new cameras we will be deploying.  A huge thank you to everyone who has supported! Your donations have meant that we have been able to run this project for over two years and can now increase our efforts further to investigate both the reintroduced orangutans and all of the other mammal species in Batikap – thank you!

Thanks to your wonderful support, the BOS Foundation Post Release Monitoring (PRM) team in the Bukit Batikap Protection Forest continues to monitor orangutans and collect data from the camera traps, and it is always exciting to see the results.

Recently the orangutans didn’t disappoint and we are delighted to share these images of female orangutan Gina as she decided to “investigate” one of the cameras. Wild animal interference with remote cameras is an issue that all researchers’ using camera traps experience. Some species are renowned for their enthusiastic interest in cameras and in some countries that is often bears. In our case, many different species take an interest in the cameras and sometimes try to move them.

Reintroduced orangutans also sometimes take a keen interest and this is because they have been rehabilitated by human caregivers and have less fear of new objects compared to wild orangutans. We anticipated this and each camera is housed in a strong steel security box and secured with a python cable. We have also tried different ways of camouflaging the cameras, which is harder than it sounds because camouflage materials can get in the way of the camera lens and this can cause the camera to continually misfire and take images of whatever is in its way.

Gina, who was released into Batikap in April 2016, spotted one of the cameras and made her way purposely towards it. The camera documented over 20 minutes of her time spent systematically “investigating” it. Fortunately, she couldn’t open the security box to access the back of the camera and we were able to retrieve the SD memory card and watch the entire sequence of her antics. Another of the cameras was also an apparently interesting item to investigate and the unidentified orangutan in this case had actually peeled away the bottom of the steel security box the camera was secured in - that is how strong these orangutans are!

Nonetheless, and despite these occasional hiccups, the cameras can be fixed or replaced thanks to your wonderful support and they can continue to provide us with these incredible insights and images of the orangutans and so many other species.

We’ll continue to report back with our new findings and in the meantime, we hope you enjoy these photo’s of Gina and some of the other forest dwellers who are intrigued with the cameras!