(Indonesia - (orang utans)

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Sunday August 12, 2007-The Star

 

 

Look into their eyes

 

Shot Story: By LAI VOON LOONG

 

IN my May 20 column, I wrote about a number of orang utans that had

been " repatriated " to Sumatra, Indonesia, from Malaysia after having

been confiscated by the authorities. Today's article is the

continuation of their journey.

 

Immediately upon arrival in Sumatra, the orang utans were transported

to a repatriation centre, where they received medical care and plenty

of tender loving care. They have to spend several months in quarantine

there to ensure that they are disease free before they can be released

back into the forests.

 

Also, some of the rescued orang utans need to be taught to live in the

forest as they had been domesticated while young and would not be able

to fend for themselves in the wild.

 

 

Can you see the anguish? Images have the power to change attitudes – I hope.

While the recently repatriated primates were placed in their

individual enclosures, one particular animal caught my eye: a tiny

juvenile orang utan smaller than a human toddler. It seemed

malnourished, as I thought it looked a little on the skinny side. It

sat in the far corner of its cage looking very depressed. Yes, I am

anthropomorphizing, I know, but these orang utans display an uncanny

likeness to human expressions, even at a young age.

 

As we were walking past the little orang utan's cage, it slowly made

its way up to bars and sat there staring out at us as if waiting for

something. I wondered if it was hungry. It didn't look like this

juvenile was old enough to have been weaned.

 

The keeper informed us that there were many such cases, where the

mother is killed and the baby is taken away and sold as a cute pet. It

felt gut wrenching to hear such stories. I couldn't imagine this

happening to human babies, and yet baby orang utans are abducted

because of their human-like characteristics. Of course, it doesn't

take long for them to grow up and become more than handful, often

times turning aggressive. That's when they are abandoned – or worse,

tied up and abused.

 

Such animals, if lucky enough to be rescued, end up at centres like

these, and are prepared for a to return to the wild or, if they can't

be trained, remain in a gentler form of captivity.

 

As we kept walking, I couldn't get the baby orang utan out of my mind

and I turned back to see it still at the front of its enclosure,

clutching the bars with its bony fingers. I felt mesmerised by its

stare, as if its eyes were beckoning me closer.

 

As I got closer, I decided to take a few shots. If it was true that

the eyes are the windows to the soul, then that baby orang utan was

baring its young, tormented soul for the world to see. It was up to me

to record it on camera and show the world its anguish.

 

Look carefully at the photo and it really looks as if the baby orang

utan is pining for its mother and its natural home, deep in the

jungle.

 

Looking at this photograph reminds me of how cruel humans are and of

how abusive we can be towards Mother Nature. She has provided us with

beautiful and magnificent creatures of the wild – and we take it for

granted that we can exploit them for our own perverse enjoyment.

 

Orang utans belong in the wild and should never be abducted and placed

in unnatural environments like theme parks, zoos and somebody's

backyard. Leave them in the jungles, where they naturally belong, for

future generations to see instead of just reading about them in a

dusty old encyclopaedia.

 

 

A picture may be worth a thousand words but Star photographer Lai Voon

Loong, who holds a BA in Media Studies, believes that behind every

picture taken is a story worth telling, too. He's open to queries and

suggestions, bouquets and brickbats; send e-mails to the address

above.