Poachers are the worse type of human beings. That’s saying a lot when you put them past telemarketers and used car salesmen. They are particularly the worst because of this story. I don’t care if you are Putin or Kim Jong Un, nobody should treat orangutans poorly, or any animals for that matter.
Rescuers found Gito back in 2015 and they weren’t even sure if he was alive at that point. He did not look good after poachers had gotten his mother. His hair had all fallen out, was laying in his own urine and he was curled up in a ball.
The IAR wrote on their website:
“At first we thought he was dead. He was lying corpse-like with his arms folded across his chest and this, along with a lack of hair and grey flaking skin, made him look almost mummified in his cardboard coffin.”
They rushed him to the nearest veterinary clinic to receive all the care he needed. He was just starting his long road to recovery. But now he’s looking a bit different…
LOOK AT THAT FACE! Thank goodness that he was saved, because he had so much more life to live!
His hair is all back and his orange skin is back to normal. He is in IAR’s orangutan rehabilitation program and is living in a forest free of poachers now. They are there to understand what it’s like to live in the wild.
Baby orangutans usually live the first several years of their lives with their mothers so rehabilitators keep a close eye on all the young guys there.
Lis Key, the communications manager at IAR said this to The Dodo about their rehab:
“At the rehabilitation center, the young orangutans are constantly monitored. As they grow in confidence and ability, they move from baby school, through forest school and then on to the pre-release island.”
She continued onto say specifically about Gito:
“Out in the forest, Gito loves to climb high and explore. He usually takes his friends with him, but he’s also happy to play on his own. He is learning fast — currently on his list to learn is how to forage the forest for food. Then after that, it will be how to make a nest for the night.”
Gito still has a lot work to do, but Key and the rest of IAR are confident he will be able to be released into the wild eventually.
She concluded:
“Behavioral data is gathered and analyzed to determine when each individual is ready for reintroduction into the wild.
This is the journey that Gito has already embarked on — which one day should lead him back into a safe, protected area of forest where he can resume his life as a wild orangutan.”
