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More Sumatran orangutans with malnutrition found in plantations
Both orangutans had been treated there for almost two weeks but had yet to recover.
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Hope, a 30-year-old female orangutan that was discovered in March with 74 air rifle wounds, recovers in her cage at the Batu Mbelin Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra. Hope was discovered with her 1-year-old baby, which later died of malnutrition. (SOCP (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme)/Castri)
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wo Sumatran orangutans were found in oil palm plantations in Aceh recently, suffering from dehydration and malnutrition due to insufficient food supply as a result of their habitat having been damaged.
The two animals, named Poni and Pandi, were sent to the orangutan quarantine and rehabilitation center in Batu Mbelin, Sibolangit subdistrict, Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra.
Communications officer Castri Delfi Saragih of the Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari-Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (YEL-SOCP) which manages the center, said both had been treated there for almost two weeks but had yet to recover.
Castri said 5-year-old Poni weighed just 7 kilograms, while ideally he should be over 10 kg. Pandi, 30 years old, was even worse, she said, as he also had intestinal worms. Pandi weighed only 40 kg while ideally he should be over 50 kg.
Pandi also has bone and joint problems, making it difficult for him to sit. He also has anemia. “We are continuing to monitor their health, especially Pandi,” Castri told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
She said the center had received Poni from the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) and Orangutan Information Center (OIC) on Aug. 28. Pandi was sent there the following day.
“It was the first time the center had received orangutans with malnutrition on two consecutive days. It rarely happens,” Castri said.
