ORANGUTANS CAUGHT ON CAMERA IN BATIKAP!

Late last year our team in the Bukit Batikap Protection Forest embarked on the first phase of a new collaborative research study using camera traps and we are excited to share some of the early images with you!

Having reintroduced 183 orangutans into Batikap since 2012, our efforts have focused on monitoring the released orangutans’ through radio tracking, which has provided us with a huge amount of behavioural data to assess their adaptation post-release. However, now that the battery life of most tracking implants has expired, we need to look at alternative research tools to monitor this new population and hopefully camera traps may be able to help answer some of our longer-term questions.

Working with the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada and the Bogor Agricultural University (Institut Pertanian Bogor - IPB) in Indonesia, we set up a few camera traps in a pilot study to see if these might serve as a cost-effective, non-invasive research tool to aid our post-release monitoring efforts. This is the first time we have used camera traps in our reintroduction sites and we don’t yet know if we will be able to answer our questions, but there is no question that non-invasive tools are critical to limit potential contact between orangutans and humans and therefore reduce the risk of disease transmission.

Early results from the pilot study looked promising and at the end of February a joint team from BOS Foundation and UBC deployed 30 camera traps in Batikap to gather data to aid our understanding of how the orangutans have arranged themselves throughout the forest, current population density and individual longer-term survival success. Much depends on the cameras recording sufficient data, and on the orangutans (and other animals) cooperation in terms of leaving the cameras undisturbed - reintroduced rehabilitated orangutans in particular can be very curious and keen to check out anything new!

Although it’s early days we have had great success in capturing images of some of the orangutans including Mardianto and Zakia, but also a plethora of other species including sun bears, clouded leopard, leopard cat, marbled cat, macaques, white-fronted langurs, bearded pigs, muntjacs, pangolins and so much more! It’s so exciting to see the many elusive wildlife species which inhabit Batikap and over the next year we will continue to periodically check the cameras, retrieve data and change SD cards and batteries.

Whilst many of us stay home during COVID-19 lockdown to keep our families and others safe, the PRM team in Batikap continue to monitor the orangutans, whilst the camera traps are busy collecting new data across the forest.

Big shout out to Melki Deus Purba, Mhd. Andri Lesmana Ginting and the PRM Team in Batikap and to biologists Eko Prasetyo (Tyo) and Gloria Manggalagita from BOSF-HQ for helping to get this important study underway!