News and Stories

ZOO TRAVELS – Sukau & HUTAN!  

Today is International Orangutan Day, a perfect day to introduce an orangutan conservation program that the Zoo is building partnership with and that I recently had the opportunity to get to know first-hand. On a recent trip with a local university program, I had the unique experience of visiting the community of Sukau in Sabah, Malaysia. This community is situated on the northern end of the island of Borneo – one of two islands in the world that are home to orangutans!

Once in Sukau, I had the unique experience of visiting with and learning from HUTAN staff and its surrounding community. This conservation and research organization has many spheres of focus, which are led by different teams referred to as “units.” I was able to spend time with several units, learning about their specific work and conservation goals.  

Orangutans

This team studies the local orangutan population in multiple ways:  

• Tracking individuals over several days to monitor behavior and foraging  
• Assessing population density by counting orangutan nests  
• Evaluating food resources by studying the area tree diversity and growth. 

While we were able to do a little of everything – here’s a photo of orungtutan female Mallotus and her baby, Muticus. These were two individuals actively being tracked, and we had the opportunity to hike into the forest and observe them! 

In addition to these projects, the unit also works to facilitate bridges that connect different sections of forest. Here, a long-tailed macaque is observed utilizing the bridge to cross a river!

Elephant Conservation & Guardian Units 

These groups focus on understanding elephant behavioral patterns and migration, which support coexistence between elephants and the local community. Since the community is surrounded by forest, elephants have unfortunately damaged personal property, local graveyards, and have even caused traffic disruptions for children walking to school! We call these types of situations human-wildlife conflict, as they have competing needs and can make things difficult for all parties.  

While this group studies the elephants to understand their needs and create long-term management strategies, they also support immediate needs. If an elephant individual or herd is involved in human-elephant conflict, the person involved can contact HUTAN staff for intervention strategies. This team will respond to safely encourage the elephants to leave the community space and return to the forest.  

This community support prevents the elephant-human conflict from escalating in a harmful way.  

Here is a video by Julie Shelton of an elephant with a tracking collar; this individual was collared by a local field station, who shares the data with the HUTAN group for their elephant study and conflict mitigation.  

Reforestation

This team, comprised entirely of women, focuses on reforestation needs in the area. HUTAN utilizes strategic planning to determine which areas of land can become wildlife corridors or benefit from expansion, what tree species should be planted there to support needed growth and long-term forestation, and how to manage the land in the critical period supporting new growth.  

 The first step of this process is to clear the land of growth that competes with the needed trees for nutrient, light, and space. These are often remnants of whatever the land was previously being used for. Once the land is clear, saplings can be planted! But their journey is far from done here… HUTAN staff must maintain the saplings and clear away competing plant growth for roughly three years! This ensures their success once planted.  

Below is a photo of a community greenhouse, which stores the saplings until they’re ready for planting. Individual people and families often grow their own saplings at home for reforestation projects, too.  

Environmental Education & Capacity Building  

The education team creates experiences for children to engage in learning about nature and conservation. While they have a variety of programs and outreach, we got to do an exercise with a student group! With a gathering of 10–12-year-old children from the local school, we went into the forest and identified the species used as reforestation saplings. By taking pieces for propagation, we then worked together to pot the baby plants so they can continue developing in the greenhouse.  

Throughout my experiences with HUTAN, it was especially meaningful to see how much the organization reflected the local community – as staff members, leaders, a resource for community needs, and a component of childhood learning about the environment! I will always be grateful for my experiences with this group of wonderful people, and I look forward to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden furthering its partnership with HUTAN and this Bornean community. 

Threats to Orangutan Populations

Unsustainable Palm Oil

Palm-oil is a vegetable oil crop that is utilized in many everyday products – ranging from food to make-up! When farmed sustainably, oil palm is the most productive vegetable oil crop. This means less land is needed to produce the same volume of other oil products! Pretty cool, right? Unfortunately, there are unsustainable practices that are problematic for land use, increase human-wildlife conflict, and create human rights violations with unsafe working practices. This contributes to habitat loss in critical regions of forest and the increase of poverty rates in local communities – all of which put pressure on the already endangered orangutan populations. Check out the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil resources, to learn more about best practices for the industry and how to support them!  

Fragmented Habitat

The forest that orangutans utilize can be broken up in a variety of ways – logging, farming, human focused development, and even a naturally occurring river are some examples!  This makes it more challenging for orangutans to navigate home ranges, especially as populations of orangutans improve with conservation efforts. While oil palm plantations contribute to this, did you know that orangutans have been observed using plantations to move to different sections of forest or even forage for some of the fruit? Studies are currently working to better understand how wildlife utilizes these plantations, which will better inform coexistence models that reduce the potential for human-wildlife conflict.  

What You Can Do

There are 3 distinct species of orangutans living in Malaysia and Indonesia, all facing similar threats of habitat degradation & fragmentation, as well as illegal hunting/trafficking. Here are a few ways you can get involved with helping orangutans and other Southeastern Asian wildlife: 

Sustainable Shopping

 Sustainable palm oil farming is the key to preserving appropriate habitat for wildlife in the region, including orangutans. Download the PalmOil Scan Mobile App – a free resource to guide sustainable purchasing choices. 

Promote Awareness

Tell others about International Orangutan Day by sharing a post on social media. Be sure to add the following hashtags: #iheartorangutans, #orangutans, #WeAreAZA, #SavingSpecies 

Contact your Legislators

 Visit AZA’s Legislative Education Action Center to show your support for the Captive Primate Safety Act – a vital piece of legislation to regulate private pet ownership of all primate species. After the successful passing of the Big Cat Public Safety Act legislation in 2022, this bill is now gaining momentum. 

To learn more about our resident orangutan “Henry” that lives at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, check out this great blog post from a few years ago, written by Jungle Trails keeper Faith Hall.

Can’t make it to the zoo to celebrate? Check out these fun activities to celebrate from home!

Make an Orangutan Mask!

Transform some cardboard and supplies from around the house into a unique orangutan.

Orangutan Word Search

Can you find all the orangutan themed words in this fun puzzle?

Durian Fruit Craft

Let your creativity shine with this craft activity!