Vega - Kumai

Kumai

Vega

Hugh and Annie

Sun 27 Oct 2019 05:08

Kumai, as the major protected site for Orang Utan in Indonesia (i.e. the world), was always going to be the highlight of the rally. It did not disappoint. We are part of the family of Great Apes and the fact that we have almost reached the point where we are not prepared to share this planet with even our closest cousins in the animal kingdom means that the opportunity to see them in the wild is one not to be missed.
My only experience of seeing an Orang Utan had previously been in a zoo and from this perspective it is difficult to appreciate the extent to which Orang are tree dwellers. They live and sleep (on a nest made each day) up in the trees and to see these big creatures gracefully climbing and swinging their way through the forest is a sight to behold. The males are eight times stronger than their human equivalent and the females twice. Humans sacrificed muscle power for brain power - it takes a lot of energy to evolve and maintain a large brain.
The Orang Utan that you see at Kumai are largely former rescue animals released back into the wild and therefore tolerant of the presence of humans. There are regular daily feeding times and it is not clear to what extent this is an essential part of their survival or a pleasurable supplement to their usual diet. If there is plenty of food in the wild then less Orang turn up for a daily feed. Occasionally fully wild Orang will turn up for something to eat. The wild ones are much blacker in colour - for some reason not explained but possibly something to do with their diet(?).
Watching the Orang is a humbling experience. Being so closely related to us they display behaviours that we can readily identify with and to lose the opportunity to live alongside creatures that can remind us of our common ancestry and place in the world would be to our huge detriment. Lack of humility is one of our greatest failings.
In my ignorance I had assumed that Orang Utan live in mountainous rainforest and that a significant chunk of Borneo (the whole island is Borneo, the Indonesian part Kalimantan) would be protected for them. They do live in mountainous rainforest but also in lowland rainforest and central Borneo, much to my surprise, is flat. On the way up the river to Kumai in Vega I noticed the protected area marked in the cruising guide and was astonished to see how small it is. It is 400,000 hectares. That might sound a lot but is an area only 100km by 40km or 0.005% of the area of Borneo.
When approaching Borneo at Kumai the low coastline comes as a surprise. No soaring mountains and steamy rainforest. You follow the coast almost due north for 60km and this turns out to be the seaward boundary of the reserve. Once in the Kumai river the riverside forest continues and you get the impression of wilderness to the east with the human development concentrated on the west side of the river. We anchored on the east side of the river opposite the town and felt close to the adjoining forest and settled in to listen to the overnight forest sounds. Disappointingly the only sounds came from the loud speakers on the many ugly grey buildings in the town that are built to attract nesting swifts so that the nests - made from dried saliva - can be harvested for birds nest soup. Swift calls are broadcast to attract the birds. In the morning there was the sound of human activity coming from our adjoining forest that turns out to be no more than a narrow strip of fringing trees. Beyond, the forest has all gone, cleared for its timber and replaced with serried ranks of palm oil trees.
The main driver for deforestation is logging with the palm oil companies moving in to take over the burnt and cleared forest. Much of the logging is illegal, carried out (so we have been told) by Malaysian logging companies. So how do Malaysian logging companies operate illegally and with importunity within Indonesia? Our guides at Kumai told us that they, the guides, operate within rules and regulations that hold up to a certain level. Beyond that most people are not involved and if land is “sold” for logging then forces are at work from which ordinary people are excluded. Something to bear in mind when buying that gorgeous teak or mahogany cabinet..............
So, back in Kumai with the Orang Utan we looked forward to our riverboat trip into the protected primary forest. Except it turned out not to be primary at all. Most of the trees are regrowth; burnt and blackened stumps of much larger trees the only evidence of the primary trees that used to grow there. Still, this does give an opportunity for re-planting and one ironwood sapling with my name on and a sandalwood for Annie is our planting contribution to forest regeneration. The fruit that is fed to the Orang Utans each day is bought locally but there are substantial areas of fruit trees managed to supplement the supply as and when required. This suggests to me that the remaining forest may not provide enough food for the resident Orang Utan population.
Indonesia has a responsibility on behalf of mankind to protect the remaining Orang Utan. The rest of the world has a responsibility to support it with this. You might think that this would be a responsibility Indonesia would welcome but the evidence on the ground is patchy. The facilities provided for visitors and access are 1970’s vintage and have not been updated or supplemented since. Rotting wooden buildings and even more perilous walkways, mouldering and out of date exhibitions are symptomatic of a lack of investment. Much seems to hinge upon the dedication and support of the rangers and local people and maybe this is how it should be. Without local support the Orang has no chance. What we didn’t see was a huge government effort to foster investment, education, research and sympathetic tourism. If you want to help it would seem that relevant charities are the only opportunity.
Whilst it raised many questions our visit was nevertheless “awesome”. A rare privilege to see wild creatures in their natural habitat even if possibly closer to an open zoo than the real McCoy. Nearly every adult female had a baby clinging to it so that must be a good sign. The males lounge around and play fight and practice sex with the females for about 15 years and then their hormones go mad and they become huge, developing characteristic cheek and neck flaps and becoming solitary and bad tempered. Even then only one “King” will predominate in a group and although we saw a couple of big males the king himself deigned not to appear.
Good luck to the Orang Utan and good luck to the human beings for the ability to see and appreciate their cousins. As we were leaving Kumai we anchored overnight at the mouth of the river and from the reserve a huge pall of smoke billowed upwards as several hectares went up in flames.