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Rihanna is reportedly keen to cut back on smoking marijuana,The Bajan born singer celebrated her 26th birthday yesterday, and sources close to the pop star say that she's now focusing on being "healthy and happy".Rihanna has always been open about her ... Read More »
Tag Archives: Rihanna
Rihanna's accountant 'caused bankruptcy'
Rihanna allegedly blames her accountant for making her "effectively bankrupt" in 2009.TMZ claims to have obtained the 25-year-old singer's legal documents, in which she is said to have insisted she had $11 million in cash at the beginning of 2009.These... Read More »
Drake 'treats Rihanna like a queen'
Rihanna has reportedly told friends that Drake treats her "like a queen".The pair have been spotted spending a lot of time together recently, going to Hollywood clubs multiple times a week.Drake apparently makes a huge effort to be attentive to the... Read More »
Rihanna's underwear fear?
Rihanna is reportedly seeking therapy for her underwear phobia.The 25-year-old singer is known for flashing her figure both on and off stage. She also enjoys sharing pictures of herself in skimpy outfits on photo-sharing site Instagram, and apparently ... Read More »
Shakira and Rihanna release sexy video
Shakira and Rihanna have released a scintillating video for their duet.The Barbadian beauty and the Colombian stunner teamed up on single Can't Remember to Forget You, which features on Shakira's self-titled tenth studio album.And on Thursday the g... Read More »
Rihanna: I'm very laid back
Rihanna thinks the public and the press have the wrong perception of her.The Barbadian singer has taken part in many scantily clad photo shoots and is known for her love of her country's carnival.But the 25-year-old has revealed she finds pleasure in... Read More »
JLo gets emotional
Jennifer Lopez cries "often".The megastar works as an actress and singer and also has twins Max and Emme, who turn six next month, with her ex-husband Marc Anthony.Despite seeming like one of the most together people in the industry, 44-year-old Jennif... Read More »
Rihanna 'using love block app'
Rihanna's friends have reportedly made her use an app to stop her getting in touch with Chris Brown.The two stars had a tumultuous relationship, during which he was convicted of assaulting her. They got back together but things didn't work out and Riha... Read More »
Rihanna's new ink
Rihanna has added to her collection of tattoos.The 25-year-old singer was pictured visiting Bang Bang Tattoos in New York City early Saturday morning.According to MailOnline, the Umbrella hitmaker had a large cross inked on the inside of her wrist, com... Read More »
Rihanna's 'little crush on a big man'
Rihanna allegedly screams for "mercy" when she thinks of Mychal Kendricks.The thought of the NFL linebacker's handsome face reportedly makes the 25-year-old songstress weak in the knees.On a January 6 during "Man Crush Monday", she posted a picture of ... Read More »


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The Rundown: Rihanna, Unapologetic
Everyone knows Rihanna: She's one of the biggest pop stars on the planet and she's already six albums (and 25 million sold) into her career. But with her seventh album, Unapologetic, which drops today, Nov. 20, she proves she's still got plenty of tricks up her sleeve: There are new sounds, new inspirations and soaring vocals, and she delves into her relationship with Chris Brown deeper than ever before. But that doesn't answer the most important question: Does it sound good? Read on to find out with BET.com's track-by-track take on Rihanna's Unapologetic. —Alex Gale
(Photo: Def Jam)
Thank Me Later: Artists Who Received a Drake Co-Sign08/27/2014
J.Lo's Best Rap Collaborations08/26/2014
Suge Knight's Street Drama08/25/2014
The Rundown: Ariana Grande, My Everything08/25/2014
The Best GIFs From the 2014 MTV VMAs08/25/2014
Artists Who Are Great at Trolling08/25/2014
Aaliyah: A Career to Remember08/25/2014
The Rundown: DJ Mustard, 10 Summers08/25/2014
2014 MTV VMAs Highlights08/24/2014
Tweets of the Week: Future Addresses Cheating Rumors08/22/2014
Instagram Photos Of the Week: Rih Watches Breezy Play Ball08/22/2014
Stop the Presses: When Music Stars Clash With the Media08/22/2014
Music Stars React to Mike Brown Shooting, Ferguson Crisis08/21/2014
Don't Label Me: Artists Beefin' With Their Record Labels08/21/2014
When Artists Fight Over a Group Name08/21/2014
You Must Learn: College Courses Based on Music Stars08/20/2014
More Music Biopics We Want to See08/20/2014
Who's Watching: MCs Who've Invaded Your TV Screen08/20/2014
Nicki Minaj's Leading Men08/20/2014
The Rundown: Wiz Khalifa, Blacc Hollywood08/19/2014
The Rundown: Chuck Brown, Beautiful Life08/19/2014
When Artists Delete Controversial Tweets08/18/2014
Big Business: Major Deals in Music08/15/2014
Songs About Self-Love08/15/2014
Instagram Photos Of the Week: Kanye and Kim K. #ElevatorKiss08/15/2014
Tweets of the Week: Chris Brown and Trey Songz Plan Tour08/15/2014
Music Stars and Lawsuits08/15/2014
80s Rewind: Rap Songs That Sample 1980s' Hits08/15/2014
Lil' Kim's Hottest Features08/14/2014
The Rundown: Twista, Dark Horse08/12/2014
When Stars Collaborate After Beef08/12/2014
Rap Lyrics Inspired by Police Brutality Cases08/11/2014
Songs That Take a Stand Against Domestic Violence08/08/2014
Songs We Want Shorts About08/08/2014
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Tweets of the Week: Drake Hyped for Lil Wayne Tour Battle08/07/2014

subset: commoncrawl


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Two Biblical Kings: 'David and Solomon'
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Neil Asher Silberman tests the historical accuracy of some of the Bible's oldest stories in a book he co-authored with Israel Finkelstein, David and Solomon.
The book focuses on the first two great kings of the Bible as a means of exploring the wider question of how the stories of the Bible evolved. Finkelstein and Silberman are archaeologists who also co-authored 2000's The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts.
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This paper is the result of a merger between two independent projects: Hörner and Vieille developed the algorithm, and Sugaya and Takahashi established the folk theorem by a direct argument. We thank Katsuhiko Aiba, Eduardo Faingold, Drew Fudenberg, Yingni Guo, Tristan Tomala, and Yuichi Yamamoto for helpful discussions. J. Hörner gratefully acknowledges financial support from NSF Grant SES 092098. N. Vieille gratefully acknowledges financial support from Fondation HEC.
Recursive Methods in Discounted Stochastic Games: An Algorithm for δ 1 and a Folk Theorem
Article first published online: 1 JUL 2011
© 2011 The Econometric Society
Volume 79, Issue 4, pages 1277–1318, July 2011
Additional Information
How to Cite
Hörner, J., Sugaya, T., Takahashi, S. and Vieille, N. (2011), Recursive Methods in Discounted Stochastic Games: An Algorithm for δ 1 and a Folk Theorem. Econometrica, 79: 1277–1318. doi: 10.3982/ECTA9004
Publication History
- Issue published online: 1 JUL 2011
- Article first published online: 1 JUL 2011
- Manuscript received December, 2004; final revision received August, 2010.
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My Account
Enter or verify that code LABORDAY is in your cart at checkout, and a 10% discount will be applied to your order over $100, a 15% discount will be applied to your order over $200, or a 20% discount will be applied to your order over $300. Your savings will be based on the merchandise total only, excluding shipping, handling, additional freight, and taxes. This offer can not be combined with any other offer. Other restrictions and exclusions may apply. Offer expires at 11:59pm ET on 9/1/14. Click here for full offer details >
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New England Revolution
Get an inside look at Revolution defender A.J. Soares.
Just in time for Thanksgiving - Matt Reis and his wife Nicole join Liz Bramwell on The Cooking Show at the Rustic Kitchen.
NOTE: Xfinity subscribers can watch this OnDemand, under Get Local/Entertainment/For Foodies.
When the youth schedule was first released earlier this year, the young Revs had no idea that their trip to Brooklyn, N.Y., would be just weeks after a devastating storm. Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc along the east coast at the end of October, with New York and New Jersey especially suffering significant damage.
We deviate from the norm on this week's show - by getting down and dirty with lots of stats and analysis. Revs team analyst Tim Crawford joins us and breaks down what he actually does for the team and more.
It's Halloween, and things got weird. Just another day on the Far Post Podcast!
A quick recap of Saer's Twitter chat this past Friday afternoon. Thanks to everyone who participated!
A.J. Soares' header from the center of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Chris Tierney with a cross following a set piece.
Diego Fagundez (Kelyn Rowe) gives the Revs a 1-0 lead against the Chicago Fire in the 18th minute.
#Revs lineup vs. #cf97: Shuttleworth - Alston, Soares, Barnes, Guy - Fagundez, Simms (c), Gavin, Rowe - Imbongo, Bengtson
— NERevsLive (@NERevsLive) October 20, 2012
#Revs bench: Reis, Tierney, Nyassi, Toja, Brettschneider, Cardenas, Purdie
— NERevsLive (@NERevsLive) October 20, 2012
#cf97 Starting XI @nerevolution: Johnson; Gargan, Anibaba, Berry, Segares; Fernandez, Pause (C), Paladini, Nyarko; Rolfe, MacDonald #NEvCHI
— ChiFireMatch (@ChiFireMatch) October 20, 2012
#cf97 Substitutes @nerevolution: Tornaghi, Friedrich, Videira, Bone, Pineda, Alex, Oduro #NEvCHI #MLS
— ChiFireMatch (@ChiFireMatch) October 20, 2012
Revs and Union will kick off at 7 p.m. tonight on Comcast SportsNet. Here are the lineups:
#Revs lineup: Shuttleworth - Alston, Soares, Barnes, Guy - Purdie, Simms, Feilhaber, Rowe - Fagundez, Bengtson
— NERevsLive (@NERevsLive) October 6, 2012
Tonight's @philaunion starting XI: MacMath, Okugo, Valdes, G. Farfan, Gaddis, Carroll, Lahoud, Gomez, M. Farfan, Daniel, McInerney #DOOP
— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) October 6, 2012
#Revs bench: Reis, Gavin, Nyassi, Toja, Brettschneider, Cardenas, Imbongo
— NERevsLive (@NERevsLive) October 6, 2012
And @philaunion subs: Konopka, Pfeffer, Torres, Adu, Albright, Hoppenot #DOOP
— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) October 6, 2012


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The Hamilton Project
November 2011
By: Harry J. Holzer
To improve the employment rates and earnings of Americans workers, we need to create more-coherent and more-effective education and workforce development systems, focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on disadvantaged youth and adults, and with education and training more clearly targeted towards firms and sectors that provide good-paying jobs. This paper proposes a new set of competitive grants from the federal government to states that would fund training partnerships between employers in key industries, education providers, workforce agencies, and intermediaries at the state level, plus a range of other supports and services. The grants would especially reward the expansion of programs that appear successful when evaluated with randomized controlled trial (RCT) techniques. The evidence suggests that these grants could generate benefits that are several times larger than their costs, including higher earnings and lower unemployment rates among the disadvantaged.
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Harry J. Holzer
Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University
September 2, 2014,
William G. Gale
Blog Post
September 2, 2014,
Carol Graham
August 28, 2014,
Robert E. Litan
August 27, 2014,
David Wessel
August 27, 2014,
Richard V. Reeves
August 26, 2014,
Darshak Sanghavi, Kavita Patel, Kate Samuels, Meaghan George, Frank McStay, Andrea Thoumi, Rio Hart and Mark B. McClellan
August 26, 2014,
Douglas J. Elliott
Economic Studies ›
November 2011,
Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney
November 2011,
Louis S. Jacobson , Robert J. LaLonde and Daniel G. Sullivan
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions. For nearly 100 years, Brookings has analyzed current and emerging issues and produced new ideas that matter—for the nation and the world.
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Review Details
Product Review (submitted on June 24, 2013):
I've been using these for a little over a month and I really like it. It does not irritate my skin and leaves my face soft and smooth. Great product!!
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InTouch Weekly
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Jul 30, 2014 6:06PM
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Zac Efron Reveals His "Gorgeous" Circumcised Penis to Prove He's Jewish in a Hilarious New Video
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These beans are wonderful with freshly baked cornbread slathered with butter. They can be prepared well in advance and freeze well. I like to serve them with a blob of sour cream sprinkled with chopped cilantro.Prep time does not include the overnight soaking of the beans.
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Serving Size: 1 (157 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 6
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Gulf Shores vacationers are desperate for a little sunshine!
The holiday weekend was cloudy, rainy and windy....for the past four or five days- families have avoided the beach.
Some took advantage of a few breaks in the weather- others spent their time-and their money- at local restaurants and gift shops.
Families we talked to made the best of it and enjoyed spending quality time together.
The weather improves later this week- good news for beach vacationers who haven't seen the sun in nearly a week.
Three-year joint drug investigation in Baldwin County ends with 24 people arrested and sentenced to federal prison
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Although I tweaked the recipe below, the original was found in the 2003 cookbook, Slim Smoothies.
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Serving Size: 1 (361 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Getting dinner on the table just got a whole lot easier.


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Louis Leakey was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist who devoted his life to uncovering the early phases of human evolution. Using the scientific tools available at the time, he set out to study hominid fossils in Olduvai Gorge, a ravine in the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa. His discoveries proved that humans originally evolved in Africa, a hypothesis initially proposed by Darwin that had previously been met with skepticism by the scientific community.
Studying fossils is the traditional way of understanding how life forms on earth evolved over time. Fossils provide snapshots of ancient plants, animals, and microorganisms, and through comparison with current life forms as well as other fossil records, the gradual evolution of one species into another can be reconstructed. In addition, estimates of the ages of fossils often allow researchers to deduce how long ago a new species emerged, and the time when the last shared ancestor of two currently existing species roamed this planet. The evolutionary relationships between species are often represented in so-called phylogenetic trees or "family trees". In a phylogenetic tree, each juncture represents the last common ancestor shared between the species at the tips of the branches.
As we can see from the phylogenetic tree of the great ape family, orangutans were the first ones to split off from the great ape family tree and evolve into an independent species approximately 14 million years ago (Mya) [1]. Gorillas diverged from a common ancestor with chimpanzees and humans ~7 Mya, while the chimpanzee and human lineages separated around 5 Mya [1]. Historically, family trees were constructed based on information deduced from fossil records, and by comparison of the morphology (body part characteristics) of existing species. Morphology includes both the outer appearance as well as inner structures of living organisms. For example, if you compare the skeletons of a horse, an orangutan, and a human, you can easily see that the overall organization of their bones is similar – all three have four limbs, their lungs are encased by chest bones, and their jaws contain teeth. At the same time, it is also evident that orangutans and humans share more similarities than either species shares with the horse, which means that orangutans and humans are more closely related.
Although constructing phylogenetic trees from fossil records is a powerful method, there are significant limitations: research is limited to species that were preserved well over millions of years, and to fossils that can be or have been located. Therefore, fossil records often leave researchers with a "missing link" problem: they know that an intermediate form must have existed, bridging the gap in development between two known fossils or a fossil and a current species, but this "missing link" has yet to be found. Also, important information about the biology of a species, such as their behavior, their preferences for certain food, and their interactions with each other, remain elusive as it is difficult to extract this "soft" information from bones.
To overcome the limitations of studying fossils to understand human evolution, Louis Leakey decided to complement his archaeological "bones and stones" research in Africa with field studies of the great apes, our closest living relatives, in their natural habitats [2]. His quest was to unravel the characteristics of the last common ancestor we shared with chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. He also hoped to gain insights into environmental and other factors that triggered the evolution of humans [2]. He assumed that the environment in which early humans evolved was similar to the current habitat of chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa, and he therefore focused his efforts initially on those two species [2]. In 1960, Jane Goodall started studying wild chimpanzees in Tanzania, and Dian Fossey followed in 1967 in her study of mountain gorillas in Congo, and then Rwanda.
In 1971, encouraged by Dr. Louis Leakey, Birute Mary Galdikas began her field studies of orangutans in what is now known as Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia. In many ways, orangutans are distinct from their great ape cousins. Orangutans are found in Asia instead of Africa and their hair is orange instead of black. But what made studying them especially challenging was the fact that they live solitary, mysterious lives high up in the trees instead of in large, obvious groups on the ground. After habituating the orangutans in her study area, Birute Mary Galdikas set out to study their behavior, and she has been following their individual life histories every since. Her studies reveal that, although orangutans spend far less time interacting with each other than humans, gorillas and chimpanzees do, orangutan social networks are intricate and form life-long bonds. Biruté Mary Galdikas likes to say that in contrast to the other great apes, orangutans never left the "Garden of Eden". Orangutans remain primarily arboreal and semi-solitary. Warfare, which is common in human and chimpanzee societies, has never been observed among orangutans. The behavioral studies by Leakey's Angels have yielded fascinating insights into the differences as well as similarities between humans and our closest living relatives, thereby providing an important piece to the puzzle of the evolution of great apes.
Today, studying life at the molecular level has become an indispensible tool that complements and often supports findings made through traditional methods such as archaeology (analysis of fossils), morphology (comparison of body part characteristics), and ethology (behavioral studies). To study evolution at the molecular level, researchers have in recent years sequenced the genomes of many different organisms. In all animals, plants, and bacteria, the genome consists of DNA, and it contains all the hereditary information necessary to keep the organism alive and functioning. Every single cell in our body contains a copy of the genome, giving the cell access to the "building plans" for the molecules of life. By comparing the DNA sequences of different organisms, it is possible to clarify their evolutionary relationships: the DNA sequences of two closely related organisms (such as orangutan and human) will show more similarities than the DNA sequences of two more distantly related organisms (such as orangutan and horse).
Over the past two years, the genomes of both orangutans and gorillas have been sequenced, following the human genome in 2001 and the chimpanzee genome in 2005 [1, 3, 4, 5]. Overall, comparison of the DNA sequences has confirmed the evolutionary relationships previously known: human genomic DNA is 99% identical with the DNA found in a chimpanzee [4]; gorillas come in second in this comparison, closely followed by orangutans, who share 97% of our DNA [1, 2]. In addition to independently confirming what was previously known, each genome contains surprises, leading to unexpected findings and exciting discoveries that could not have been made otherwise.
For the orangutan genome, one of the surprises is its amazing stability over time [1]. Since the orangutan genome has changed considerably less than the genome of any other primate, orangutans are likely much more closely related to the last common ancestor shared between all great apes than any other living species [1]. Therefore, among current life on earth, orangutans are the most similar to the ancestral great ape Louis Leakey wanted to find. This finding shook up a lot of entrenched notions, since it had previously been assumed that all primate genomes evolved at a similar pace [6]. If this had been the case, the genome of modern orangutans would be as similar to that of the ancestral great ape as the genomes of modern chimpanzees and humans are to it.
What may be the cause for the unusual stability of the orangutan genome? Analysis of the DNA indicates that the answer might lie in so-called "Alu elements" [1]. Alu elements are mobile genetic elements – in contrast to regular genes, Alu elements do not stay put in a specific location in the chromosome, but instead they duplicate and then get inserted into new positions. Thereby, the number of Alu elements in the genome steadily increases. Alu elements can therefore be thought of as "jumping genes", and have been identified as one of the major driving forces of human evolution [7]. In the orangutan genome, Alu elements have been remarkably inactive: There have been only ~250 recent "jumps", compared to 5,000 in humans and 2,300 in chimpanzees [1].
The unexpectedly low "jumping rate" of Alu elements is therefore the most likely explanation for the surprising stability of the orangutan genome. While the genomes of the other great apes have been constantly rearranged as a result of Alu elements "jumping" to new places, sometimes leading to dramatic reorganizations, the orangutan genome has evolved at a much slower pace. The close kinship at the molecular level between modern orangutans and the ancestor of all great apes is likely to be reflected at the macroscopic level as well, such as in their morphology and maybe even their behavior [8]. The sequence of the orangutan genome has provided an important piece to the puzzle that complements and extends what we know about the evolution of the great ape family from fossil, morphological and behavioral studies. Louis Leakey, if he were alive today, would probably have been thrilled and amazed to know that the elusive red ape, which had long been thought to be our most distant cousin, might hold such a critical clue to our ancient evolutionary history.
[1] Locke, D. P., Hillier, L. W., Warren, W. C. et al. (2011). Comparative and demographic analysis of orang–utan genomes. Nature, 469, 529–533.
[2] Virginia Morell (1995). Ancestral Passions. Touchstone publishing.
[3] Scally, A., Dutheil, J. Y., Hillier, L. W., et al. (2012). Insights into hominid evolution from the gorilla genome sequence. Nature, 483, 169–175.
[4] International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (2001). Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature, 409, 860–921.
[5] The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium (2005). Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome. Nature, 437, 69–87.
[6] Easteal, S. (1991). The relative rate of DNA evolution in primates. Mol. Biol. Evol., 8 (1), 115–127.
[7] Kazazian, H. H. (2004). Mobile elements: Drivers of genome evolution. Science, 303, 1626–1632.
[8] Di Fiore, A. (2003). Molecular genetic approaches to the study of primate behavior, social organization, and reproduction. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 122, 62–99.
Only months later, Ben has grown considerably and he has almost caught up in size with some of the other babies. But little Ben has not only grown physically, he has also gained a lot of confidence and independence! He now very much enjoys climbing trees, and loves to play with his orangutan friends.
Ben arrived at the Care Center as a small but healthy baby. We do not know much about his past except that he was kept as a pet until his owner handed him over to the wildlife authorities in the nearby town of Sampit, who then brought him to OFI's Care Center in Pasir Panjang. At the Center, Ben immediately started drinking lots of milk, which allowed him to gain weight and grow quickly. He adapted well to his new environment, and up to today, Ben is a baby that overall causes little trouble. When he receives his milk bottle after returning from the forest, he prefers to hold it himself (indeed, he will push his caregiver's hand away if they try to help!), and once he has finished drinking, he often immediately goes to sleep.
At the infant nursery facility, Ben is most content resting in his sleeping basket or calmly playing with his friends. If he is handed a baby toy, he sometimes plays with it for a short while but often he just drops it. Human-made, synthetic objects are clearly not something that excites little Ben. He rarely tries to raid supplies or empty backpacks like some of the other babies whose mission sometimes seems to be turning the facility upside down! All in all, Ben is an adorable baby who is well liked by all the caregivers. But Ben himself has his preferences. When he is handed over to a caregiver he does not like very much, he will start crying and fighting until he is allowed to return to the caregiver he likes most.
On most days, the infants are taken out to the forest behind the nursery facility. Some are very timid and spend almost all of their time in the caregiver's lap, and even if they move a little bit away, they often hold on to their caregiver with one hand or foot. This exact behavior is also commonly seen in the wild with infant orangutans and their mothers. Infants are very rarely outside of range of their mothers grasp. When I first met Ben, he showed just this behavior. He felt most confident close to his favorite caregiver, and when he was left alone for a brief moment he immediately started to cry and to crawl back towards his caregiver as quickly as he could.
Sometimes, one or two of the small infants join the larger infants at the playground. Last year, when I saw Ben on one of his initial outings to the playground, he did not enjoy himself at all. Even with his caregiver sitting right next to him, he was too afraid to explore the climbing structures, and he was so afraid of the larger infant orangutans that his caregiver, Ibu Diyan, had to carry him around all the time.
Today, those days of fear seem long gone. When I saw little Ben again at the playground a few months later, I almost didn't recognize him because his behavior had changed so much! As soon as he arrived in the day release forest, Ben started climbing trees. He is very determined to practice this important skill and will often climb up very high. But even when he decides to come down, the fun is not yet over. He loves playing with leaves, branches, and everything else he can find on the forest floor. In contrast to manufactured baby toys, playing with these natural objects can keep him busy for a long time.
But lately what Ben seems to enjoy the most are interactions with the larger infant orangutans. When one of them approaches, he often moves in their direction and tries to convince them to play. His favorite activities include wrestling matches, which are quite fun to observe between two orangutans of vastly different sizes. Most of the time, the older orangutan infants seem to know they have to be gentle with little Ben. However, I once observed a slightly older orangutan Lia getting a little bit rougher, pushing Ben's head to the side in a way that prompted the caregivers to pull her away from Ben. But Ben himself did not seem to mind at all. He followed Lia and wanted to continue the wrestling match!
In only a few months, Ben has settled into life at the Care Center and made amazing progress towards natural growth and happiness. It seems that he has understood that the Care Center is a safe place for him to learn and play. He knows that even if his specific favorite caregiver is not right next to him, someone else is always there to help and comfort him if needed.
Ben is still a small infant and when I watch him in the forest I often wonder what the future will hold for him. At birth, orangutan babies weigh around one kilogram (2.2 pounds). Adult cheek-padded males weigh as much as 150 kilograms, meaning that little Ben has the potential to gain up to 150 times his birth weight! Had he been allowed to stay with his mother, Ben would have grown up very differently, learning all essential survival skills over the first 8 years of his life just from her in the forest. Although we will never be able to replace this one on one learning from his mother, we are doing our best to create an environment in which Ben can grow both physically and mentally and learn the skills his mother would have taught him in the wild. Even though Ben is very smart, it will take him many years to learn all he needs to know to survive alone in the wild. At the same time, Borneo's lush rainforests continue to disappear at an alarming rate. It should be every orangutan's destiny to roam freely through the forest. We very much hope that by the time Ben is ready to go home to the forest, where he belongs, there will still be stretches of primary rain forest left on the great island of Borneo.]]>
Every other day at the OCCQ the older females get released into the forest. Caroline is a part of that large group. As the staff approaches the enclosure she shares with two other females, Caroline does somersaults and spins around on her back like a break dancer in anticipation of the day release. She's always the first one out the door and launches herself into the arms of whoever is taking her out for the day. Heading into the forest along the boardwalks, most of the other orangutans walk beside their caregivers but Caroline always prefers to be carried as she likes to gaze up into the trees and into the sky. I sometimes think that perhaps she's planning the strategy for her day in the forest!
Once an appropriate spot for release is reached, the orangutans are sent off into the forest to play, forage, and climb. Many times the staff brings fruit such as pineapples or coconuts for the orangutan mid-day snack in the forest. If this is the case, Caroline is usually the first in line! She grasps the fruit in her hands – easily hanging onto a large piece with her long fingers – and heads for the nearest tree, nimbly ascending to a high, stable perch where she can eat in peace. If she doesn't happen to get any fruit, she has no qualms about approaching other orangutans and relieving them of their share. It is always interesting to watch her boldly approach females twice her size and snatch the desired fruit treat right out of their hands. Many times she will then brazenly sit right next to them, relishing the juicy fruit and suffering no apparent negative consequences for her thievery! Caroline is probably smart and perceptive enough to judge who, among her long-term orangutan friends and acquaintances, she can take fruit from and from whom she can't.
Caroline is also an excellent forager in the wild. Because of her small size, she is able to utilize sections of the forest that larger, heavier orangutans can't or don't utilize. It is not at all unusual for her to separate from the rest of the group and head off in a completely different direction. If she has a specific destination in mind, she quickly propels herself through the forest to that location. As a volunteer who frequently takes her out on release, I can attest to the fact that this little lady can move! Because she is slender, lighter foliage – such as tree saplings, bushes, bamboo, and even some thick tree ferns – can support her weight. So while I battle my way through dense patches of nose-high ferns and weave my way in and around bamboo stands, Caroline's lithe form effortlessly skims along the tops of these barriers (to humans!) and leaves me behind in the dust, figuratively speaking as it's actually swamp.
Eventually, however, we are reunited. By listening for leaves rustling above me or seeing discarded fruit falling to the forest floor, it is relatively easy to hone in on her position. Then, peering up through the branches, I spot her comfortably reclined on a tree branch enjoying some of her favorite forest fruits or tender young leaves. Sometimes she appears just to be relaxing and living in the moment – gazing at everything around her, absorbing the warmth of the sunshine filtering through the forest canopy, and feeling the breeze stirring the treetops.
After a few hours in the forest, however, it's time to head home. Caroline doesn't always agree with what, I'm sure, she perceives as a unilateral decision so having a special treat in my backpack helps sway her not to stay in the forest much longer. Once lured down to the ground, she happily climbs onto my back for the free ride home. (It has been a busy and exhausting day in the forest after all!) And back in the enclosure with her friends, she is more than happy to chill out, eat some jackfruit, and make a little nest out of the tree branches that are daily given to her as nesting material.
Caroline's independent nature and excellent foraging skills bode well for her eventual release. This ability to forage is one of the critical components in determining when an orangutan is ready for permanent release into the wild. However, it's necessary to recognize that life in the forest can sometimes be "feast or famine" so it is important that orangutans have a good fat layer on their bodies before release. During seasonal periods of low food availability, this fat layer helps ensure orangutan survival.
By giving Caroline plenty of time in the forest to forage and by supplementing her diet with high-calorie foods while at the OCCQ, we hope that she will eventually gain enough weight to allow return to the wild.
Spending long hours in the forest with her every week and observing her behavior, I know Caroline will be happy and successful living as a wild orangutan permanently in the forest. Maybe, when she stares off into the trees, this is exactly what she's contemplating, too!]]>
The re-introduction took place in a protected forest with a remote OFI camp as base. The cubs would sleep at night in a comfortable cage close to camp. Every morning at dawn, I would let them out to spend the whole day in the forest to play, explore, and search for food. They were like brother and sister and would stay together, following me in the forest as they would have done with their mother. Sometimes, however, Bernie would go her own way, leaving Wawang and me to follow her. The two cubs would spend most of their time playing and looking for food, but they couldn't find enough to satisfy their appetite, so after a long day in the forest they were usually happy to go back to their night cage where food was waiting for them. They made no fuss at being locked in for the night as if they knew that they would spend the whole next day in the forest again.
Slowly the forest became a part of them and they became a part of it. The young wild bear in each of them became more present while the captive frustrated cub disappeared. They accepted me as a substitute mother and came to me when in need of affection. My presence chased away the eventual wild bears in the area and helped make the forest around the camp become Bernie's and Wawang's territory.
One afternoon, after 6 weeks of daily walks, Wawang decided to go off into a thick swampy part of the forest where it was impossible for me to follow. Bernie followed Wawang and both spent their first night out in the forest. The next morning, with a machete, I slowly made my way into the thick swamp, following Wawang's radio signal. After a long search, I was devastated to find his lifeless body, covered in wounds from sharp claws and long canines. Was it a wild bear defending his/her territory? I'll never know. I took Wawang's body to bury it close to camp and later found Bernie high up in a tree, safe and without wounds, but frightened and trembling. She eventually came down and followed me back to camp.
Wawang had the happiest 6 weeks of his short life. He was always in a good mood, always positive, and happy. He died like a young hero in his first fight. I loved him dearly and cried for him at length. Bernie had lost her companion, her brother, her double, and seemed as sad as I was. But we helped one another overcome Wawang's loss by staying close. We pursued our daily walks together and slowly found a new equilibrium.
By late October, Bernie was in better spirits and made it clear that she didn't want to be locked up at night anymore. I took the decision to leave the door to her cage open at all times. We thus entered the second phase of her re-introduction: Bernie was now 100% free. Her cage was an open cage, a dry safe place which she could enter and leave as she pleased. She enjoyed this new arrangement and would spend most of her nights in trees close to camp, but sometimes when it rained she actually preferred sleeping in her cage.
A few weeks later, on December 19, 2012, I found her covered in wounds hiding in a den in a swampy area with tall grasses about 600m away from camp. She was alive but in a pitiful shape. She had probably been in a fight with another bear; her wounds were deep and open. She refused to let me carry her back to camp, and refused to follow me back. She was too weak to look for food on her own, but ate all I gave her with appetite. She was afraid to move away from her forest den. So I stayed with her in the swamp the first night. I put her on antibiotics the next day and spent the following three months bringing her food daily and spending whole days with her in the grassy swamp. She progressively got better, moved around, and regained her confidence. But she still refused to come back to camp.
On March 17th, for no apparent reason, she followed me to camp as I walked back in the evening like I always did. She entered her cage, smelled around, ate her food, and went out again to rest in a tree nearby. She was back home after 3 months absence, and everything was back to normal, just like that. We resumed our daily walks in the forest and she re-took possession of the forest around camp. With time she became more independent. I was following her more than she was following me. She was moving faster and faster, her signal often disappearing from my radio receiver because she was too far away. She would sometimes choose not to come back to camp in the evening. We spent increasingly less time cuddling and playing, while I spent more time just waiting for her in the forest while she did her own thing.
During the month of July 2013, she made it increasingly clear that my presence in the forest was not necessary. Sometimes she would disappear for hours and when she came back, she would walk straight by me without even acknowledging my presence. So we entered the 3rd phase of rehabilitation, where I would not try to find her in the forest every morning to follow her. Instead I would wait for her at camp. She came every day for her food and I was there to greet her, available to play or cuddle if she so desired, but I stayed back when she chose to go away. At first she went away for no more than 24 hours, sometimes pushing it to 36 hours.
In November 2013 she disappeared for 7 days. I was very worried and looked for her extensively, desperate at not catching the faintest radio signal on my receiver. But she came back one evening, as if nothing had happened. She was hungry, yet she had no wounds. She slept in her "cage", went off again in the morning, and took back her routine of daily visits. Then on December 9th, she disappeared for 16 days! She came back on the 25th, healthy and happy, looking increasingly like an adult bear. It was my best Christmas present ever.
Now as I write, she is back to her routine of daily visits. She is more than two years old and is taking full advantage of her freedom. I am so happy for her. I hope the spirit of the forest will continue protecting her.
I now spend less time at camp, where the OFI forest guards continue giving Bernie supplementary food, but I spend more time at the OFI clinic in Pasir Panjang, caring for the three adult bears (Desi, Kevin, and Hildegarde), and a new cub that just arrived. OFI and I are beginning the construction of a one hectare enclosure for the three adult bears who can't be released, but Ori, the new cub, is only 6 months old and could very well be rehabilitated to life in the forest. I pray someone will volunteer to take that responsibility. Giving back an animal his/her freedom is a beautiful experience, and bonding with a sun bear is something extraordinary. Ori deserves the chance that both Bernie and Wawang had to go back to the forest and to become, once again, a wild bear.]]>
Located at the edge of Tanjung Puting National Park, Seluang Mas has become the gateway to freedom for 32 orangutans over the past two years. Here, orangutan orphans are given a second chance to live wild and free once again. To ease the transition from the Care Center to the big forest, OFI provides daily feedings. In addition, each orangutan's progress in the rehabilitation process is closely monitored so that medical support can be provided whenever necessary.
In early December, I was lucky to accompany Pak Abeng and Pak Midi to Seluang Mas for the weekly fruit delivery and to attend one of the feedings. We left OFI's Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine in Pasir Panjang early in the morning for the four hour drive to Seluang Mas. In the back of the truck, sacks of bananas, carrots and green vegetables were stacked up. In addition, we brought a large bag of durian, a spiky fruit with an awful smell and supposedly a heavenly taste that is a favorite not only of the orangutans but also of many of the local staff. For most visitors it is an acquired taste.
On the way, we pass through many small settlements, a few rubber small plantations, and vast stretches of palm oil plantations. Seeing palm oil plantations is almost unavoidable when traveling in Borneo – looking back, I realize that whenever I have left Pasir Panjang, be it to extend my visa or to attend a wedding in a "remote" Dayak village, I have encountered them. Sadly, there are very few places left where Borneo's unique rainforests are still intact. Tanjung Puting National Park and OFI's Orangutan Legacy Forest are two such places.
On my flight to Borneo, I overheard a conversation between two other passengers who commented on how green and beautiful Borneo was when we were flying above a palm oil plantation! Yes, the plantations might be green. But from an ecological point of view, most plantations are deserts, monocultures that are home to only one plant species, monocultures that cannot support many other forms of life. Standing in between the rows of neatly planted palm trees, it becomes very clear that plantations can't provide what is necessary for a functioning ecosystem. Not much sunlight reaches the floor, and the only fruit available is meant for human consumption. You might see insects, a few birds, rats, and maybe a snake. But all in all, the palm "forest" is scarily quiet.
The scenery changes when we arrive at Seluang Mas. The camp is located on the edge of the forest, and we are greeted not only by the staff but also by Ziko and Perigi, two recently released subadult male orangutans who curiously observe from high up in the trees how the fruit is unloaded. A staff member tells me that these two orangutans tend to stay close to camp most of the time because they are scared of one of the wild adult male residents in the area. A couple of hours later I will fully understand why.
It's still a while before we head towards the feeding platform, so I have time to observe Ziko and Perigi. The two of them seem to be getting along well with each other. They often sit in neighboring trees or rest in day nests not far from each other. It looks like their favorite hangout is close to the camp's garden, and when the staff are not looking, they come down for a handful of fruits or vegetables as a snack in between feedings! They even take the chili peppers! Ziko and Perigi have adjusted to their new life outside of the safety of their sleeping enclosures at the Orangutan Care Center in their own way. Although we hope that they will become more adventurous and move deeper into the forest, it is important to give them time so they can make the transition at their own pace.
Each afternoon, staff provide milk, fruit and sometimes vegetables at a feeding platform in the forest, 30 minutes by foot away from camp. After traveling through plantations for many miles, walking through the forest is like entering a different world. The diversity of the trees is almost overwhelming, I can hear birds, see butterflies, and spot a large bird high up in the sky. As the staff calls the orangutans to announce feeding time, I am reminded of my first visit to Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park. There are very few places in the world where humans and orangutans can meet like this, and this camp is one of them.
As we get closer to the feeding platform, more and more orangutans emerge from the trees. They look healthy, with beautiful long, orange hair. Some are eager to drink the milk, but most of them go right away for the durians. The fruiting season has just begun, and today is the first time in many months that they receive this special treat.
While some orangutans spend a long time on the feeding platform, enjoying the durian feast, others quickly grab some fruit and then move up into the canopy again as fast as they can. They do not linger long because they don't feel comfortable – Maret, a wild, resident, fully-grown male orangutan with cheekpads is watching their every move from a distance!
It soon becomes clear that Maret does not approve of seeing visitors around the feeding platform. He starts to kiss-squeak and to shake branches. As his display does not elicit a reaction, he gets more and more angry. He moves closer. He breaks off branches and dead wood and sends them down to the forest floor, aiming towards Pak Abeng and Pak Midi who are standing on the trail leading up to the feeding platform. I keep taking photos of the orangutans at the platform and in the surrounding forest, but make sure to keep an eye on Maret in case he decides to throw more wood in my direction! After a while, he settles down on a branch, seemingly calming down, observing the on-goings at the feeding platform below. However, the peaceful silence does not last for very long; he soon kiss-squeaks again, and then violently rocks a tall, dead tree back and forth until it is un-rooted and falls down! Everybody jumps to their feet, but fortunately, no one is hurt.
As we head back to camp, Maret descends from the trees and attempts to follow us together with some of the rehabilitated orangutans. One of the rangers stays behind to assure the orangutans remain in the forest and don't move too close to its edge.
While we walk through the forest, my thoughts go back to the more than 330 orangutans at OFI's Care Center in Pasir Panjang who are still waiting for their return to the wild. During the past four months, I have met many of them and got to know their unique personalities. Like humans, they are all very different. Some adjust well to living at the Center, while others struggle. The rehabilitation process is very complex, often challenging, and of course, highly time- and cost-intensive. Not every release goes as planned, and the challenges only continue after the orangutans have returned to the wild. As more and more forest is destroyed for the sake of producing cheap oil to be used in snack foods for western consumers, the challenges keep getting bigger. Seeing a large patch of land that has just been planted with small oil palms on the way back reminds me how difficult it will be to find suitable forest for all the orangutans currently at the Center, and for all those who continue to arrive every month. But seeing Noni, Linda, Lydia, Sandra, Perigi, Ziko and the other orangutans at Seluang Mas gives me hope. They are living out in the forest where they belong. They seem healthy and well on their way to living wild again, making the transition at their own pace. OFI managed to give them a second chance against all odds. Although the situation sometimes seems desperate, we need to keep trying. Even if we can't save every single one, we have to fight for them and protect their habitat. Losing this battle is not an option.]]>
When you visit Pondok Medang, one orangutan who will certainly catch your eye is Vanessa. Vanessa has a very pretty face and beautiful, dark-orange hair, but what is unique about her is her hairstyle: her hair is parted in the middle, falling down on both sides, but close to her forehead, her hair stands straight up! Vanessa's outer appearance reflects her smart and gentle personality. Her caregivers describe her as "tidak pernah nakal" – she's never been "naughty," and has never shown aggression towards human caregivers at the OCCQ. When the door of her enclosure is opened in the morning in time for forest school, Vanessa usually can't wait to get out. If I am there to accompany her to the forest, she will sometimes immediately climb onto my back to be carried further out into the forest, or she will take my hand and pull me towards the boardwalk. It seems as if she is eager to show me her world in the forest! From Vanessa's behavior, it is clear that she knows the forest is where she belongs. On days when she can't go out, or when she does not want to wait anymore for the door of her enclosure to open, she will show her disapproval by smacking her tongue and by making noise with whatever she can find. However, her anger disappears immediately as soon as the door to the sleeping enclosure is opened and Vanessa is free to explore her forest home!
In contrast to some of her peers who like to start the day playing with each other, Vanessa usually heads off by herself. She is a skilled and experienced climber who can scale even tall trees quickly. Her first stop is often one of the larger trees close to the boardwalk. Once she is up there, she starts eating young leaves, and calmly observes the hustle and bustle down below on the forest floor. She often continues eating in the same tree for a long time, carefully moving from branch to branch, picking the tastiest leaves. But once she decides that she's done eating in that particular tree, she moves very quickly deeper into the forest. Her movements are very determined. She knows exactly where she wants to go next.
She sometimes turns around briefly to check if her human friends are still keeping up with her fast pace, but she only really stops once she has reached her destination: a tree bearing fruit or tasty young leaves. Right now, one of her favorites are the leaves and berries of the pampiing tree: when she finishes eating in one pampiing tree, she often moves on to another tree of the same species. Studies on wild orangutans have shown that they develop precise mental maps of the locations of the many different fruit trees they feed on, and they often return to these trees exactly at the right time to harvest ripe fruit. Over the last couple of years, Vanessa seems to have mastered this skill and now knows the rehabilitation forest inside out!
While Vanessa always appears very busy during the early hours of the day, moving through the forest to feed on her favorite trees, she seems to relax after she has been out for a while. Although she spends most of her time up in canopy, she sometimes climbs down to interact with other orangutans or to drink water provided by the caregivers. If it is a hot day, she walks over to the swampy part of the forest and cools herself down by immersing her feet and hands in the water and sometimes by splashing water on her body. While other orangutans get fairly muddy in the process, not so Vanessa: she will select some fairly clean water for her "mandi" and in her ladylike manner ensure that her pretty hair stays clean when she is taking her bath!
If Vanessa is in the forest when it rains, she climbs high up into a tree to construct a day nest. To keep herself dry, she sometimes holds a large leaf above her head! Every day, the caregivers will search for termite nests, which can be found close to the roots of trees. They will poke the soil with a stick and based on the sound decide whether it is worth digging for the nest. If Vanessa sees her caregivers doing this, she is always happy to come down to the forest floor, eager to help uncover the nest. Once she has removed it from the soil, she breaks it open and sucks out the termites as well as sucking those that crawl on her hands. Vanessa is a smart orangutan who has learned to supplement what she receives during the feedings with what she can find in the forest. Although we strive to provide all orangutans with a balanced diet, it is impossible to even come close to the huge variety orangutans sample in the wild. Therefore, the time that the orangutans spend in the forest is not only the most important part of the rehabilitation process, but also gives them an opportunity to access nutrients they might otherwise lack. Vanessa's healthy hair is indeed a testament to her well-developed foraging skills!
With her pretty face and gentle personality, Vanessa is certainly a favorite with the caregivers. She has made a lot of progress during her time at the Care Center and acquired the skills she will need to survive by herself in the wild. Hopefully, the time will soon come when Vanessa won't have to return to her sleeping enclosure in the afternoons anymore, but live permanently in the forest of Borneo that she so loves.]]>
He is still a subadult male with a handsome face surrounded by growing cheekpads. He has a large throat poach. When he sees people he particularly likes approaching, he often whirls around, his long orange hair shining in the equatorial sun, his eyes sparkling with excitement in expectation of possible treats. When we see him like this, we can't but think about how different his life would have been if he had had a chance to grow up wild, by his mother's side. By now, he would live a semi-solitary life in the forest, probably beginning to fight for dominance with other orangutan males in the area.
Congo initially seemed to adjust somewhat to his free-roaming, new life in the big forest. He regularly returned to the feedings, looked better than before, and continued to grow. However, he often stayed on the ground and sometimes even made night nests on the forest floor. After around 4 months, Congo missed several feedings in a row. A search team located him in the forest with large wounds all over his body, most likely the result of a fight with one of the wild adult males in the area. In particular, Congo had been bitten in the jaw. The other male's canine had pierced through the flesh almost to Congo's jawbone. Congo had to return to the Care Center for medical treatment, but he recovered relatively quickly and was released again in March 2011. Everything went well for the next 6 months. Congo did not get involved in serious fights with other orangutans, and he seemed happy and healthy, enjoying his freedom the second time round. We noticed that this time he seemed to be on the ground less and in the canopy more.
Unfortunately, Congo's newly found freedom did not last very long. In September 2011, Congo wandered into a palm oil plantation which was some distance from the release site. The workers had experience with another female orangutan who often wandered into the palm oil plantation. This female liked to be brought back to the release camp in the back of OFI's pickup truck. Congo was not yet particularly big. It was dusk so perhaps they really couldn't make out Congo clearly. They took Congo's hands and tried to pull him into the back of their pickup truck. It was a case of mistaken identity! Congo had absolutely no experience riding in a pickup truck. He objected violently to the two workers trying to drag him into the vehicle. Thanks to OFI's training efforts (which were done entirely on a volunteer basis by Dr. Galdikas and local staff), one of the workers knew exactly what to do. He shouted at the top of his lungs and fought back as hard as he could. Congo let him go with minimal injuries. Unfortunately, the other worker was not so fortunate. He did exactly the wrong thing! He fainted! Congo bit him repeatedly on the leg. The worker was not able to use his leg for months afterwards.
Fainting was the wrong thing to do for a reason. You show submission to an orangutan by squealling as hard as you can and running. This worker refused to run so Congo showed him who was "boss!" The sem-solitary orangutan does not have a repertoire of stereotypic submission gestures or postures. For instance, chimpanzees show their behinds to indicate submission. Orangutans can only squeal and run!
Congo had to return to the Care Center again, where he has remained since.
Congo is now too large to participate in the daily forest outings. Because of his great strength, he could easily hurt other orangutans and humans, and it would certainly be difficult to convince him to return to his enclosure in the evening. Therefore, Congo has to remain with us at the OCCQ until a new release site, preferably in a forest far away from plantations and human settlements, is established. Such safe and secure forests are now rare because of the massive destruction of rainforest in Kalimantan due to the establishment of palm oil plantations. It might be a while before Congo can be safely released again. We are trying our best to locate suitable forest but it is a difficult task.
Although the change from living free in the forest to returning to an enclosure must have been dramatic, Congo adjusted well to being back at the Care Center. In a way, it must have been a relief for him not to encounter fierce wild male orangutans who seemingly attacked for no reason and human strangers who wanted to kidnap him and take him who knows where! In general, Congo seems to have a relaxed attitude towards life, chilled and laid-back. This attitude became much more noticeable after Congo returned to the Care Center and Quarantine for the second time. What was particularly noticeable was his change in attitude towards the people at the Care Center.
In the past before the second release, Congo had been occasionally hostile towards OFI caregivers and rangers. He seemed somewhat confused during his first release. He ignored other orangutans although he did not avoid them. He seemed ambivalent towards humans. But once back in the Care Center after the second release, it seemed Congo had figured out that the Care Center was not so bad. Being in the cruel, wild world had given him a new perspective. Nobody attacked him or tried to drag him away from the safety of his enclosure.
Sometimes it seems that he's actually fond of us at the Care Center. He even showed his feelings by occasionally kissing a (male) long-term volunteer. This was truly a marked change from the Congo we knew before the first release. At that time Congo was skinny, bald, and a bit aggressive. The magnificent animal we now have before us every day could easily rip apart any human but instead he lightly touches our hands or shoulders and gives us one of his enrichment branches to get our attention. He has become a sweetheart. All hostility towards his caregivers is gone. We are very eager to see him go back to the wild for a third time. We know this time he will make it!
At the Care Center Congo is always active and alert, closely observing his surroundings. He is full of energy, often swinging from side to side, ready for the next adventure. Since his second return, his playful nature has blossomed, and he seems to appreciate the time his human friends spend with him. When we stop by his enclosure after he has received his evening foliage for nesting and foraging, he often sticks a branch out through the bars. When we try to catch it, he jerks it to the side, and he is usually very good at estimating how fast he has to move the branch so that we won't be able to grab it! When we finally manage to get the branch from him, we turn the game around and now it's his turn to 'catch the branch'. After a while, Congo usually decides that using a branch with all its leaves still attached makes the game too easy, and he removes them as well as all the side branches and continues playing with just a stick.
Congo is not only playful, but also a considerate orangutan. When we bring him treats such as peanuts, he often offers some food from his feeding tray in exchange, usually some leftover bananas. Indeed, it seems that he likes to keep his feeding tray stocked for various purposes. If anyone happens to walk by his enclosure without any treats or without stopping to interact with him, he will often throw bananas or banana peels to show his disapproval!
To keep Congo stimulated until he can be permanently released again, Care Center staff give him different types of enrichment items. One of his personal favorites is reed mats, which he likes to wrap around his body.
Congo has a little bit of a naughty side as well, which probably comes out more when he gets bored. Recently we noticed him playing with a T-shirt in his enclosure. Apparently, Congo had taken the shirt from the staff member who was cleaning his enclosure. Fortunately, this young man was quick enough to jump out of his shirt before Congo could pull him against the bars. Satisfied with his new 'enrichment item', Congo played with the shirt until he had ripped it into tiny strips of blue cloth that then fell below his enclosure.
Congo showed his energetic spirit in the forest as well. After Congo was released for the first time, he not only returned to the feeding platform occasionally, but also paid visits to the release camp. Whenever Congo found a ladder, he used it to climb to the roof of the camp building. He often moved the ladder to different parts of the roof depending on which part he wanted to inspect more closely.
A couple of weeks ago we found him in his enclosure playing with a piece of plumbing. The plumbing was part of the system that delivers water to the enclosures. The piece that Congo took came from outside his enclosure. Water was pouring out because of the missing middle piece. We are not sure how Congo managed to get to thisparticular piece of plumbing, but he must have been planning his moves for a while. The plumbing was installed on the far side of a concrete pillar well outside of his enclosure. From the inside, Congo could neither see it nor reach it with his hand, but he must have known it was there since the caregivers open and close the valve when they give the orangutans access to water for showers and drinking. Most likely, Congo waited for the perfect long, stout branch with some curvature to arrive in order to get to the plumbing! He certainly looked very pleased with himself when he played with the broken piping, closely inspecting the valve and turning it around and around.
Congo's journey towards a free, independent life in the forests of Borneo has been a difficult one. Despite various setbacks, Congo gained experience and perspective. Now that Congo has gone through some awkward and difficult moments in the wild, we hope his next return to the wild will be "smooth sailing" all the way!
If you want to support OFI in our efforts to secure and protect forest to give Congo and other orangutan orphans like him a new, permanent home, please consider donating to OFI's Orangutan Legacy Forest.]]>
Home to wild orangutans and countless other endangered species, the immediate acquisitionof Kubu Village Forest by OFI is crucial to keeping it out of the hands of huge, international conglomerates that are clamoring to clear-cut and convert its rich, biologically-diverse landscape into miles of palm oil agriculture—a monoculture in which few wildlife species can survive. It is a sad scene that has repeated itself over and over all across Borneo with deadly consequences. But with your help, OFI can protect this critical orangutan stronghold.
Although the orangutans are released into the forest as often as possible to allow them to hone and perfect their survival skills, such as searching for food and building nests in the trees, not all orangutans can be taken out every day. Above a certain age, orangutan males and females are not released at the same time anymore to prevent them from mating and producing baby orangutans who would further crowd the center, whose capacity is already at its limits. In addition, large male orangutans above a certain size cannot be taken to the forest, as they could easily hurt other orangutans or their caregivers. Although OFI aims to eventually release all orangutans in its care, the care center has become a long-term home to some of its residents (such as Montana) whose release will be carefully considered due to disabilities. Ibu Maryanti's goal is to improve the quality of life for all orangutans in OFI's care by providing enrichment that mentally and physically challenges them.
Ibu Maryanti is a local person. She grew up in Pasir Panjang, the Dayak village where OFI's care center is located. Many people from Pasir Panjang work at the Care Center so orangutans have been a constant presence in her life from a very young age, which clearly laid the foundation for her deep understanding of the "people of the forest". When she was only 16 years old, Ibu Maryanti decided that she wanted to work with orangutans while she continued her education. After discussing these plans with local villagers, Dr. Galdikas agreed to give it a try. For the next couple of years until she finished high school, Ibu Maryanti would head over to the Care Center every afternoon after school to help take care of infant orangutans. Given the challenges of working with babies – they often require lots of attention throughout the night – this is an impressive accomplishment that probably not many people in the western world would attempt to achieve! Although not all experiences with the orangutans were pleasant (one of the larger orangutans once bit her leg), Ibu Maryanti fell in love with the orange apes and up to this day works hard to make a difference in their lives.
After finishing high school, Ibu Maryanti was fortunate to be able to study forestry education at the university in Palangka Raya (the capital of Kalimantan Tengah) with support from Dr. Galdikas. After completion of her dissertation, which examined the effects of different nutrients on the growth of the Sengon tree (a tree often used for reforestation), she worked at Camp Leakey's information center in Tanjung Puting National Park for two years. At the time, she was the only woman working there. Visitors and locals alike sometimes found it hard to understand why she enjoyed living at this remote location so much. But for Ibu Maryanti, Camp Leakey remains one of her favorite places. "I think it's weird that sometimes people can't understand why I loved living there so much", she says. "The fresh air, the diversity of the fauna and flora makes it such a wonderful place. I have very sweet memories of my time at Camp Leakey." It was here that Ibu Maryanti met her husband, also a local from Pasir Panjang, who enjoys painting in his free time and who created an orangutan painting for the information center. After getting married, Ibu Maryanti returned to Pasir Panjang and started working at the Care Center again, this time in enrichment. "At the time, the idea of providing enrichment was new for me," says Ibu Maryanti. "Before, we had taken all orangutans out to the forest every day from morning to evening, but with more and more orangutans coming in, this became ever more difficult. To ensure that the orangutans didn't get bored in their sleeping enclosures and remained stimulated, we started providing different types of enrichment."
Today, most sleeping enclosures at the Care Center are outfitted with permanent enrichment items such as half-barrels, ladders, and hammocks, which allow the orangutans to practice their climbing skills and to rest comfortably during the night. Many of these items have been installed by dedicated long-term volunteers, who help Ibu Maryanti keep up with the steady influx of orangutan orphans. Sadly, in recent years more orphan orangutans arrive than can be quickly released, making it necessary to build more and more enclosures to house the new arrivals. When installing new enrichment, Ibu Maryanti always has to strike the right balance between simple, durable pieces, and challenging items that will keep the orangutans entertained but which might be more fragile. Even after careful reasoning, the staff at the Center are sometimes in for a surprise: when new barrels were first installed, the orangutans loved them so much and kept making so much noise "testing" their new equipment that the staff had a hard time sleeping during the night.
The main focus of Ibu Maryanti's work, however, is to provide a variety of enrichment objects that enable the orangutans to display their natural behavior, and that challenge them mentally. An important part of the enrichment program is to give out branches at the end of the day to allow the orangutans to sample different leaves and to construct nests even if they can't go to the forest. Another important component of her work is food enrichment. When preparing food-related enrichment, Ibu Maryanti prefers to use natural materials such as leaves, bark and flowers. Leaf parcels that contain peanuts, raisins, pumpkin seeds, and popcorn are her favorite. After the treats are consumed, the orangutans often eat the leaves, play with them, or use them to improve their nests. Alternatively, Ibu Maryanti sometimes hides the treats in locally produced rattan balls or she wraps them in reed mats, for which the orangutans have also found a variety of uses. Kongs, dog toys that can be filled with different food items, are also used to increase variety but require that the orangutans are more closely monitored, at least initially: "Some of them will chew on the Kongs and then swallow pieces of the plastic, so I always try to find out first which orangutans tend to do that, and then give only natural materials to those individuals," says Ibu Maryanti.
One of the big challenges for Ibu Maryanti is to provide adequate enrichment for all 300 orangutans given limited financial resources. In addition, the logistics of obtaining fresh branches every day can be difficult, and producing hand-made enrichment items is a time-consuming process. By visiting different facilities (the camps that surround the OCCQ and house different age-groups of orangutans) every day, Ibu Maryanti ensures that all orangutans receive equal treatment. However, she does have her favorites: Ziko, who has now been released, always used to hug her when she came, and she developed a very close relationship with him over the years. He also was always very gentle with the enrichment items. When he was given a rattan ball, he gently poked it to create a small hole just large enough to extract the snacks hidden inside, instead of frantically pulling on the fibers as some of his peers do.
Over the years, Ibu Maryanti has seen many orangutans come and go. The infants she helped raise when she first started working for OFI have all been permanently released, something that makes her very proud and proves that the hard work required to raise and rehabilitate orangutan orphans eventually pays off and enables them to live in the forest where they belong.
When I ask her about the most important skill needed to work in enrichment, she simply replies: "You have to want to help from your heart. You have to want to help the orangutans. They have to be the main reason you're here."]]>
At the base of each plume, orange flames reach up and produce the smoke that is being carried off into the sky. Once the sun goes down, an orange glow fills the air in the direction of each fire, creating an eerily apocalyptic scene. It's a glimpse into the end of the world, seen from a place that was once untouched by humankind, but is now bleeding and scarred.
I am on my way to join OFI's firefighters in Rawa Kuno, one of our protected forests that we've been working so hard to establish and protect. Fires have been raging for several weeks, and OFI staff from all of our stations have headed to join the fight, lending their hands to battling the flames.
The drive is long, and with plenty of time for reflection I can't help but think about the state of the Earth, our only home. Along the way the view of rainforest is all too frequently interrupted by abandoned mining areas and vast expanses of palm oil plantation. I find myself thinking about the impending global climate changes, and resulting disasters that range from the tornadoes that rip through my home state, Nebraska, with increasing severity and frequency, to the wildfires raging all over the planet due to severe drought everywhere. I imagine what the world will look like as human populations continue to rise, and all the resulting pollution and garbage we create will accumulate. I picture a plastic bag already making its way down rivers and streams, headed to the ocean where some poor creature will mistake it for a jellyfish and possibly suffer an ugly death because of it. I think about the drilling and fracking operations that are poisoning our fresh water sources and spilling crude oil all over the planet, and about the tons of radioactive water leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the crippled nuclear power plant in Japan,. I could keep going, but I try to stop myself. I get the point. Earth is in a sad state of disrepair. All these thoughts are front and center in my mind as we make our way towards the smoke and flames.
I spend the day out in Rawa Kuno doing my best to help OFI staff battle the blaze which, thanks to their tireless effort, is now contained. After just one day at the fires I spend the next three days coughing and blowing black boogers out of my nose due to the heavy smoke I experienced (a charming sight, to be sure). By the end of the day I am soaked to the bone with sweat, dehydrated, and physically exhausted from clambering over fallen trees while dragging heavy fire hoses. Some of the staff has been out there, day in and day out, for weeks. I can only imagine their weariness, but you would never know it. They are still in good spirits, working as though they had only been at it for a few minutes and not a few weeks or more.
Aside from braving the smoke, the heat, and the other ever-present dangers in the forest, there is also the danger of falling trees. The fire gets down into the peat and destroys the roots. This makes the welcome wind a warning sign. After the wind comes up, a loud crack is heard, and then the unmistakable sound of a tree falling occurs. Or several trees, as they often fall in a large group. The staff only stop long enough to ensure that they are out of harm's way, and then they get right back to work as though nothing has happened.
Fighting fires here is a logistical nightmare, but the ingenuity and perseverance of OFI staff is remarkable to behold. We don't have dozens of helicopters to rain fire suppression from above, or teams of smoke jumpers and tanker trucks that we can parachute in. We have pumps, hoses, and human bodies, and that's it. Even things like finding a water source is somewhat of a feat. Thankfully last year we had constructed a moat to form a physical boundary around Rawa Kuno. Our fire fighters are able to pump water from it even though the water level is very low. As they press on deeper into fire territory, they connect more and more hoses into one exceptionally long hose, and then with several men along the way they drag the hose towards the flames. This is repeated until the hose runs out, and then the pump has to be moved down the fire line. The men even let me try my hand at personing the end of the hose for a while (which is no easy feat), but I am glad for the opportunity to snuff out some of the flames myself. The satisfying hiss of a dying fire is about the best sound in the world when you're surrounded by flames and smoke.
The passion and dedication of our staff is palpable. It is obvious that they aren't just doing their job. They truly do not want to see the forest destroyed by the fire. They are all too aware of the issues at hand and just how precious the remaining forest here is. In addition to fighting the encroachment of palm oil plantations and mining operations, we are now also facing the daunting challenge of fighting forest fires with limited resources. There is little infrastructure in place at the local government level to extinguish forest fires, so we are basically left on our own in safeguarding the forest we own. The countless other fires raging in Borneo, however, will likely continue on unchecked unless stopped by the rain. The fires remain a real threat to local ecosystems. With every passing dry season the viable forest here shrinks just a little bit more due to fire. What we really need right now is rain, and lots of it!
The fires are primarily a result of human activity. Fires are often set to clear land and end up spreading out of control, or they are sometimes accidentally ignited when people burn their rubbish or carelessly toss away a lit cigarette. In addition to climate change making dry seasons longer and drier, palm oil plantations now established all over Borneo are lowering the water table with their irrigation ditches, drying out the peat layers over which forests sit. When you combine this with rising temperatures, decreased rainfall, and careless human activity you have the proverbial perfect tinderbox.
Were it not for human activity, fires here would be extremely rare. Unlike the temperate forests of North America, where trees like the lodge pole pine depend on occasional fires for reproduction, the fires here serve no particular purpose. They are purely destructive. Due to the thick layer of peat, which is an enormously important carbon storage system for the planet, the fires in Borneo release an extraordinary amount of CO2 into the environment. The emissions from a peat forest fire are much higher than a fire of comparable size in North America, where it's usually just the trees and vegetation above ground burning.
Humans are the only creatures on the planet that are simultaneously smart enough and dumb enough to cause this level of damage to their own habitat. We are knowingly marching ourselves towards premature extinction, often making decisions every day that seemingly ensure this eventuality. We make these decisions in the form of the products we use, and the foods we eat, and the way in which we spend our money and conduct our lives.
Every penny you spend is a vote for the way you want the world to be, and the future that you want the world to have. Spend wisely, buy responsibly, and tread lightly. Do so as though every living thing on Earth depends on it, because they do…including you and me.]]>


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See how to make zesty barbequed chicken in your slow cooker.
Shredded slow-simmered chicken in a tangy homemade BBQ sauce.
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