Renovated outdoor cage at BOS SL
We began 2023 by continuing to make improvements on the facilities in Samboja Lestari of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) in Indonesia, now holding 75 sun bears. We renovated 2 spacious outdoor cages and their respective dens for new incoming bears before they are trained to the electric fence in an outdoor enclosure, then eventually integrated in an existing group.
Bottom Yard at SL
With the help of volunteers from BOS Switzerland and BOS Australia, we also did improvements on an enclosure called Bottom Yard at Samboja Lestari: we repaired platforms, built bridges, added climbing structures and even planted 150 seedlings in the enclosure. With funds from the United World College of Singapore and BOS Switzerland, we also split Bottom Yard in 2 with one half becoming an individual enclosure for a bear called Mely who doesn’t like the company of other bears and prefers to be alone, and the other half becoming an enclosure where the new incoming bears will familiarize themselves with the electric fence.
Bakar at BOS – Sept 2023
In 2023, 7 new bears have arrived at Samboja Lestari: 3 adults and 4 cubs. The 3 adult bears were placed in the newly renovated outdoor enclosures while the cubs were hand reared by the local staff and long term volunteers. They all followed what we call “forest school”. This means that the cubs spend about 8 hours a day in the forest roaming around freely with a human mother figure to accompany them. They thus develop their natural skills and are able to free all the energy they have. When the cubs become too independent and difficult to manage, we place them in a forest enclosure with electric fencing.
In April 2023, we also did maintenance work at the Care Centre of the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) in Central Kalimantan, where we have built 4 forest enclosures in the past. We equally renovated a large cage for Choki, a new young bear who arrived at the centre a few months ago. Unfortunately, the 4 enclosures at OFI are not sufficient for the 18 sun bears now in its care, and we hope to be able to build more enclosures there in 2024.
Wis at Samboja – Dec 2023