From Kylie Bullo, Perth Zoo Senior Orangutan Keeper, at the release station in Bukit Tigapuluh, Sumatra, Indonesia.
After completing two weeks of quarantine, Semeru’s enclosure door was opened at 8.40am. A female orangutan named Violet was released at the same time. She is about the same age as Semeru. Violet has been in the forest before so it was a good opportunity for Semeru to be released at the same time.
Violet quickly made her way up the rubber rope from her enclosure and into the forest. Semeru looked out of his enclosure but decided to stay put and assess the situation. Violet waited for him on the vine, watching. Semeru came out of his enclosure after about three minutes but seemed quite overwhelmed and couldn’t figure out how to get to Violet. Violet came back down the rubber rope. Semeru was still on the ground but when Violet returned once again to the tree Semeru made a dash along the ground and quickly ascended the vine to join Violet.
Semeru in Bukit Tigapuluh,
There was a huge sense of excitement and achievement for all of us to see Semeru make his way into the forest for the first time and then climb in the canopy and follow Violet. Constantly travelling and foraging for food, Violet is certainly a good companion for Semeru to have. One hour after release, they were both eating a small green fruit called jambu jambu.
After eating, Violet was off again and Semeru managed to keep up with her. He showed good skills in the canopy however it is difficult for him to follow Violet on the very light branches as they don’t support his weight (he weighs 31kg, she is only 13kg). He came to the ground a couple of times to run quickly to her location and climb up again. Violet and Semeru then ate numerous rotan fruits. Semeru had been given these fruits while in quarantine and seems to really like them.
Around 11am Violet travelled further away and Semeru decided to rest in the large tree with rotan fruits. It then rained from 12.30-1.30pm so Semeru remained hidden in the large tree which is generally what orangutans do when it rains. Semeru’s activity decreased significantly when he was separated from Violet so we decided it was best for the trackers to lure Violet back to him so he could follow her again and hopefully they would nest together that night.
The trackers managed to lure Violet back to Semeru’s tree at about 4pm and Semeru immediately came down to see her. They then began to eat numerous rotan fruits together and Violet was even seen begging for fruits off Semeru. He gave her some mouth to mouth. They came quite low in the canopy and I took this opportunity to give Semeru a drink of Gastrolyte to keep his fluids and energy levels up. He was extremely thirsty and insisted on helping me hold the bottle so I wouldn’t take it away.
Violet and Semeru then spent some time about 40m up a tall but skinny tree and Semeru stripped and ate some bark. Violet made a nest in the small canopy at 5pm but we didn’t want her to nest there since the tree canopy was small and very exposed and it had been terribly windy and stormy the night before.
Thankfully Violet moved back down to another tree at 5.30pm then travelled about 30m away and made a nest in a suitable tree. Unfortunately Semeru did not follow Violet and stayed in the same tree. We kept hoping for sounds of nest building but as the sky got darker, Semeru remained still and quiet in the canopy. He was not in a good tree for making a nest however it was quite dense so at least he was somewhat protected. As it turned out, it was a very calm night. We left Semeru’s night tree once it was dark at 6.30pm and returned to the release station.
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