Today was my first day on Quarantine. This is the section of the centre that is not open to the public, and is where all the animals that come into the centre are placed until suitable permanent accommodation can be found. It's tiny, overcrowded and frankly not fit for purpose but they are doing the very best with the resources they have. Although to most people this would be hard to take in, all the animals have come from much worse. They are well fed and cleaned out daily. It houses three Orangs, whose enclosure is very nearly finished, although in Malaysia this could mean a few more months. The sooner the better these girls have been in these tiny cages for well over a year. It also has about 20 maquques, iguanas, a slow loris, snakes and 6 gibbons.
The cleaning is much the same as the others but we do more enrichment tasks to keep them happy. I was tasked with gibbons. These little buggers are frightening, they are quick, noisy and clever! They try to grab you, your tools and the hose. I was mid way through and got comfortable, big mistake. As I waited for the next cage to be opened a macaque grabbed my arm, I squealed and the gibbons all started shouting. I was terrified. I soldered on but within seconds a gibbon had grabbed my leg through the bars. Time to have a break and let my heart rate go back to normal.
After calming myself and finishing the rest of the cages, Kerry (who heads up Quarantine) pulled me aside and asked me to come see the last gibbon on the row. Rosey. She is about 20 and was a pet for 18 years. She was healthy when she was surrendered by her owners for biting people. But within a few months at the centre had started to pull her hair out and eat her poo. Although there is a strict no touch policy at the centre they made the decision to stroke her and her condition improved. Therefore if there is a suitable volunteer they buddy her up, if not she goes a month without regular human contact and deteriorates again. Kerry thought I could do the job, I nearly cried, what a privilege. I went and got some nuts then had some alone time with her. She was nervous at first but food seemed to seal the deal.
I stayed with her for about 20minutes until it was time for lunch. I was really choked up so decided to have a little nap. After lunch we were all called to the orangutan enclosures. A baby had arrived a few weeks ago and today was its introduction to the other babies at Matang. After earlier I was really struggling not to get teary. He was sooooooo cute, but you can see just how strong they are!
The afternoon was spent making various presents for the animals and we got to meet peanut the Pangolin. A scaly mammal with a very long tongue. After work we had a nice relaxed evening with bubble and squeak for dinner and yet another early night. Working in the jungle takes its toll.
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