Globalteer

Two young Orangutans were found at a hotel/private zoo outside of HCMC months ago, seen by tourists and noted because 1 that had been there months earlier, suddenly became two. Now according to CITES, there has been no permission given to import orangutans into Vietnam for years and highly unlikely the orangutans had been born in the country! Well, no records of that either. So a group called Wildlife at Risk (WAR) contacted Edwin and started the ball rolling with plans to confiscate the animals, which required the assistance of the Forestry department of course (FPD). We came in 3 weeks ago to assist with the confiscation when the owner suddenly lodged some paper work to defie the action - being a communist country, they had to put the case before the 'peoples committee', who discussed the details and then finally agreed to continue with the confiscation. So we went home and returned a week later when the order was finally given for the go ahead. The owner of these animals is quite influential (as they all are - orangutans are not exactly a cheap pet that you can pick up at any market!). His 'hotel' is also home to somewhere between 70-100 bears farmed for their bile (he has 'permits' for these bears...), as well as a couple of tigers, civets, other cats, birds, and macaques. All kept in horrible cages and poor conditions.

Finally we returned two weeks ago and the confiscation took place with the help of the government of course, and the animals were brought to a property of the WAR group, but as they are only a fledgling group with no facilities and minimal staff, I was the lucky one who got to stay in HCMC for two whole weeks minding the animals and caring for them every day - I say lucky a little sarcastically, only because here I was in this great new city unable to explore and sitting around doing not much all day...but then seriously lucky because I got the opportunity to bond with these two animals, observe their behaviour and make sure they stayed in good health. And no, I didnt spend my days playing with them! Although the health tests came up fine, TB is difficult to determine accurately from a skin test which is all they have in Asia, so I didnt really want to take that risk, also didnt want to give them any viruses I may been carrying. I actually found it really annoying when I saw people coming into the yard, wanting to touch and play with the animals, and I became a little bit of a grumpy to some people (with a smile on my face....) when I saw them treating them like a common dog! Have some respect guys!!! So the girls got to know me, I got to know them and after 2 weeks of trying to sort out paper work with export documents, import documents, CITES permits, etc, we finally got the go ahead to transport them back to indonesia where they will eventually go back to the wild...YAY!!!!

Yesterday we brought them to the airport in HCMC and said a sad goodbye - I am really attached to these guys now and it was sad to part with them. At Jakarta they were handed over to the forestry department and then taken to a quarantine station where they will remain for ~4wks before heading to a rescue/rehab center in Borneo. So the whole task was a success and I would have to say this has definitely been one of the most interesting things I have ever done.