(AU) WA orangutan to embark on 'great adventure'

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WA orangutan to embark on 'great adventure'

By Adam Gartrell

October 26, 2006

 

SHE'S only fourteen years old, but Temara is about to embark alone on a great

adventure.

 

Temara's a Sumatran Orangutan, and after spending her entire life in captivity

at Perth Zoo with her mother, Puteri, she will travel next week to her new home

in the rainforests of Indonesia.

 

She will be released into a protected Indonesian national park as part of an

international effort to re-establish a population of the critically endangered

species.

 

It will be the first time a zoo-born orangutan has been released into the wild.

 

A team of veterinarians, keepers and zoo officials have spent the past year

meticulously planning and preparing for the transfer.

 

Temara, hand-picked for the role based on her age, sex, health and temperament,

has recently been introduced to Indonesian fruits, live termites and the wide

variety of leaves she'll encounter in the wild.

 

She had also been given access to a high fig tree to hone her climbing and

nest-making skills and improve her fitness and muscle tone.

 

Temara will be carefully monitored for at least 12 months to assess how she

adjusts.

 

Perth Zoo has the capacity to breed orangutans for release into the wild on an

ongoing basis, depending on how things pan out with Temara.

 

It is believed there are only 7300 Sumatran Orangutans left in the wild.

 

They are the slowest reproducing species on earth and face extinction in the

wild within 15 years.

 

AAP

 

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20649993-5001028,00.html

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Australian Orangutan Project

 

http://www.orangutan.org.au