Orang Utan Island

AS IT was a Tuesday (when the Bukit Merah Resort runs on “minimal mode”), we decided to take the Eco Combo package, which allowed us to visit the Orang Utan Island and Ecopark and opt for a ride on either the Chairlift or Skycycle. The package costs RM19 and RM13 for adults and children respectively.

After buying our tickets at the main ticketing counter at Marina Village, we ventured to the main jetty to await our ride to Orang Utan Island. Boats leave every half an hour and it’s a 10-minute ride across the lake to the island.
The Orang Utan Island is exactly that – these intelligent primates literally have the run of the place. In a twist, it’s the visitors who will have to spend time in a cage, a 100m-long “cage tunnel” to be exact, to get an up close and personal look at the orang utans as they roam free here. There are 19 orang utans on the island at present, with four of them being island-born.

The island is 14ha (35 acres) across wide but only 2ha (5 acres) of it is used as a rehabilitation and preservation facility. This programme aims to develop and promote orang utan conservation, propagation, research education and eco-tourism by making the island into a breeding sanctuary for these animals.

“We are just into the fourth year of this programme,” said Bukit Merah Laketown Resort general manager Calvin Ho.

“The average rehabilitation programme takes up to five years. We teach the baby orang utans how to climb trees, forage for food in the wild by planting fruits at various places – whether up on trees or on platforms.

“The whole island is dedicated to the orang utans and future plans foresee these primates roaming the currently unused part of the island that is ‘wild’. This will be the ultimate test for the rehabilitated orang utans - to be able to survive in the jungle without human intervention whatsoever.”

Ho also said the orang utans are from Sarawak and most of them are “problem children”. Some were caged by their previous keepers because of bad behaviour, while two baby orang utans were initially kept as house pets in an apartment.

The orang utans that were treated as pets have been rehabilitated so they can live like … well, orang utans. Tasks such as climbing trees, which you would think came naturally to these primates, had to be relearned.

We had the pleasure of getting acquainted with these two during our visit to the island and both seemed to have adapted well to life as “real” orang utans, thanks to their (human) Mummy, Divanee Raman.

Meeting Carlos and Paulina

"This fella likes to bully me,” says Divanee as she playfully swings baby Carlos, a two-year-and-eight-month-old orang utan, onto her back like a sack of potatoes. The baby easily settles on her piggyback style as Paulina, the older of the two (by two months), hangs loose on a rope nearby.

Currently, these orang utan babies are the stars of the island as visitors will be able to interact with them at the end of the “cage tunnel”. You’ll be warned not to touch them because, as adorable as they are, they are very strong. As long as Divanee (fondly known as Mummy in these parts) is around, everything will be fine.

“They understand English, Bahasa (Malaysia) and Tamil,” reveals Mummy who has been taking care of the babies since they were about a year old.

“Sometimes after a scolding, they ignore me because they are angry but if I start to walk away, they call me back.”

Just like typical children, both are curious and active but Carlos seems to be the friendlier one. Paulina distances herself from visitors.

To help Carlos and Paulina adapt to life as orang utans, Mummy had to teach them how to climb trees when they first arrived.

“I took them to Pulau Pak Tuan nearby to climb trees. Since they didn’t know how to do it, I started to climb the trees so they could follow my example,” says the feisty lady.

Well, her efforts have borne visible fruit and to prove it, Paulina grabs hold of the wire mesh roof and swings toward the entrance, only to be caught by her legs and pulled down by Ann Vijayaletchumi, public relations officer of Ecopark and Orang Utan Island. Carlos observes the situation from between Mummy’s legs.

“They are just like any young children. They want my attention all the time and sometimes it’s hard to even find time to go to the toilet!” says Mummy as she sits down on a wooden bench with Carlos.

Ann carries Paulina to the bench as well. Paulina lies down nonchalantly while Carlos is tickled by Mummy. The baby bares its teeth in delight and squirms about, obviously the ticklish sort.

“It’s not an easy job caring for these two. I get bullied by them and at times they can get rough. I’ve been bitten by an orang utan before but I love animals and working with these two, so it’s OK,” says Mummy.