The weather has been rather hot and dry lately in the Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan. Rain has fallen less frequently and rivers are now becoming shallower and clearer. Recently, our post-release monitoring (PRM) team departed from the Nles Mamse Camp on a sunny morning and headed into the forest to do some orangutan behavioural observations. The target for the day was Indonesia, a 14-year-old female whose radio transmitter signal was detected a few days prior.
The PRM team hiked for about three hours before reaching the location where Indonesia was nesting; and found her snacking on etlingera shoots. She savoured the roots for quite some time before moving to another tree, where she began peeling off bark to expose the termites underneath. Indonesia, known for her agility and wide home range, moved quickly through the trees, making it hard for the team to keep up with her.
Indonesia
Melastoma, Indonesia’s Favourite
The team lost sight of Indonesia for a while, and then around noon, managed to locate her again. This time she was hanging from a melastoma tree. She feasted on a large amount of melastoma flowers and fruits well into the late afternoon.
Melastoma, sometimes called Singapore Rhododendron , is a natural food for orangutans when it is fruiting, as it is right now. In addition to its tasty fruits and flowers, the tree is known to have medicinal qualities and is widely available in the forest. Perhaps this is the reason why some animal species, like the orangutan—which have been documented using certain plants for self-medication—eat the fruits, flowers and leaves of the melastoma. It is just one of the many natural medicines found in the world’s biggest natural apothecary—the forest!
Fruiting melastoma tree
Melastoma flowers
We all know the great benefits that forests provide humans; they sustain our lives by providing clean air and fresh water, preventing landslides in hilly areas, and helping to regulate the climate, among many other things. Forests are also refuges for almost incomprehensible biodiversity, including Critically Endangered orangutans. Let’s save and protect orangutans and their habitats for a better future! Forests supply us with a vast collection of natural medicines. Knowing this, it is vital that we actively preserve forests for the future generations of all species!
Text by: PRM Team in Nles Mamse Camp, Kehje Sewen Forest