Saviour of Orang Utans in Bali

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*http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20071018.R01 & irec=0

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*Bali a safe haven for orangutans*

 

*Trisha Sertori*, Contributor, Gianyar

 

If longtime orangutan expert and animal behaviorist Francine Neago gets her

wish, Bali is set to become a world leader in orangutan and endangered

species research.

 

Neago has been passionate about the protection of orangutans for decades,

even before she stepped onto Indonesian soil back in 1965.

 

" I met and married my husband, Biroum Noerjasin, a doctor and pianist from

Surabaya, after we met in New York. I was already very interested in

orangutans. I had wanted to be a vet as a child, but my father wanted me to

do medicine, " says Neago of a meeting that was to thrust her into the heart

of a revolution rather than orangutan rich jungles.

 

Neago and her new husband returned to Surabaya; Neago with plans to head to

Bali, " but within two weeks of arriving the revolution broke out. When I

opened the door of our home there were tanks to the left and the right and

in front a lot of dead people and some living ones too.

 

" I thought what do I do. Go to the French Embassy and try to get out? But I

am a doctor so I started bringing people in first to our garden then into

our home. When the house was full of patients I went out into the street, at

the risk of my life. There was no one in the streets, just tanks and the

soldiers who were shooting anything that moved. There I was the only

European in Surabaya in the streets looking for help for my patients, " says

Neago.

 

Gathering her courage, Neago, a tiny women now in her seventh decade,

stormed up to a tank and demanded the young officer take her to his

commander. " He was so startled he did, " remembers Neago.

 

With the commandant's help and volunteers pooled from Airlangga University

medical students, Irzat school was requisitioned and a hospital started,

" it's still there today, " says Neago.

 

The determination that drove Neago into the streets of revolution more than

40 years ago is with her still. Today her will is directed at establishing

the Bali Endangered Animal Rescue (BEAR) habitat in central Bali.

 

Funding and land has been secured through Italy's Veterinary Association and

the " immense support " , of Balinese animal protector and government official

Swastika. Swastika heads up the nonprofit organization BEAR, overseeing the

center.

 

The center will not be open to the public, says Neago, but rather a research

center where international vets and biologists and zoologists doing their

doctorate thesis can study highly endangered species; and hopefully through

their work improve their chances against threatened extinction.

 

Neago has a long history of working with orangutans. Her main focus is on

language development and animal behavior studies. She worked for many years

through the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

" These types of studies take many years. I had one male orangutan, Bulan. He

came to me as a baby and by the time he was four years old he could spell

words on a computer. People underestimate their intelligence, " Neago says.

 

A memorandum of understanding with Surabaya Zoo for the transfer of a baby

orangutan to Bali has been prepared, says Neago. *The year old* is expected

to arrive next week and will be the first of many.

 

" The rate of jungle destruction in Sumatra and Kalimantan means these

animals have nowhere to go. I was in Kalimantan six months ago and cried for

three days; the jungle is gone, the animals are being smothered with smoke.

It's hard to breathe there.

 

" This is why I have chosen Bali as the showcase of this center. The trees

are not being chopped down at the same rate. I have asked the Indonesian

government to give BEAR an island where we can establish an open range

habitat, again not open to the public. I feel positive this will be

granted, " says Neago who was a friend of *Ibu* Tien Soeharto.

 

" The day I arrived back in Indonesia, at the request of *Ibu* Tien to begin

orangutan preservation work, was the day *Ibu* died. It was then impossible

to continue without her patronage, " says Neago who despite repeated setbacks

and her advancing age, will not rest until the BEAR center is complete and

the orangutans have their haven. " If here in Bali we can save 200 to 300

orangutans a year that will be a start, " she says.