At the end of last week, our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) Team was patroling along Tyo River when we detected Agus’s signal. The signal was weak due to heavy rain and probably distance, but we pushed on and continued the search for Agus anyway. Because the radio telemetry equipment isn’t waterproof we reverted to the use of traditional ways of searching for orangutans (looking for broken branches, feces, and food leftovers).

Over an hour later, we finally found Agus, a male orangutan who was released back in October 2013. We were delighted to see that he was healthy and had become an impressive and handsome adult. However, as soon as Agus realized our presence, he stopped his activities and started kiss-squeaking at us. He also threw branches at the Team while quickly moving through the trees to avoid us. It was clear that Agus didn’t like seeing humans so close to him.

We backed away from Agus and found a place where we could still observe him in the middle of persistent rain. But unfortunately the weather got a lot worse and we could no longer continue our observation. So we recorded as much information as we could and noted Agus’ GPS location point. Recording GPS points of the whereabouts of orangutans is important to determine the pattern of their movements. Agus has now been living unaided in the forest for over a year and a half so is considered a successful release, however we continue to record opportunistic data on his movements and behavior.

The team continued to patrol towards Berlian Hill all the way to Mount Belah, where we also spotted a fairly new orangutan nest. Shortly after we met Yayang and her daughter Sayang feeding on forest fruits in the trees. Both Yayang and Sayang looked healthy. The weather that afternoon was very unfriendly, the rain got heavier and the sky got darker. So the Team returned to Camp Lesik. The unpredictable weather this past week in Kehje Sewen Forest does not deter our passion to go on our daily patrols looking for orangutans. And all our efforts paid off. We were very happy that we got to spend some time with Agus this weekend!

Text by: PRM Team at Camp Lesik, Kehje Sewen Forest