AN AMAZING ENCOUNTER WITH SVENJA
Our PRM team in the Hiran watershed of TNBBBR conducts phenology surveys and unexpectedly encountered Svenja.
Kent came from Sangkulirang to Samboja Lestari on March 24, 1999, after being rescued from a farmer’s field when he was two months old and weighed five kilograms. The orphaned male was suffering from dehydration and severe diarrhea due to a worm infection. After several years in Forest School, Kent completed his rehabilitation process in 2004 and was placed in a halfway house in preparation for his release, which took place on March 22, 2014. He was 16 years old on release and weighed 45 kilograms.
On April 30, 2014, our PRM team found Kent with severe open wounds to his neck, chest, and left arm, which were thought to have been caused through conflict with another male in the forest. On a different occasion, our PRM team had witnessed Kent fighting with Bajuri, another male who was released on March 24, 2014, two days after Kent was released. However, the team had noted that no serious injuries had been inflicted by the altercation with Bajuri.
The wounds Kent sustained would have quickly become infected in the wild without medical attention. As per BOS Foundation field procedures, our on-duty vet and the PRM team decided to move Kent to an acclimatization enclosure, where he could get the intensive care he needed. It didn’t take long for Kent to make a recovery; he got his appetite back and was again moving actively, however, it was fruiting season in the Kehje Sewen Forest at the time and the area was teeming with bees. A few hives near the enclosure where Kent was being treated meant he suffered from some swarm attacks. Scratching at his bee stings reopened his recovering wounds and facilities in the camp were not sufficient to support the extra treatment he needed. For the first time, and after a long 28-month period of successive reintroductions by the BOS Foundation, the decision was made to evacuate Kent and return him to Samboja Lestari on May 23, 2014.
On May 27, 2014, Kent underwent surgery at Samboja Lestari to stitch his wounds. Thanks to intensive post-surgery care from our dedicated medical team, Kent made a full recovery.
After two years of working on regaining his survival skills at Samboja Lestari, Kent is now ready to return to the Kehje Sewen Forest. He is now 18 years old and weighs 50 kilograms. Hopefully this time Kent will be strong enough to stand up to other males in the Kehje Sewen Forest. We’re all behind you, Kent!