Hospital treats orangutans like human babies
Baby orangutans found sick or abandoned by their mothers are being checked into a hospital in Malaysia and cared for like infant humans in a controversial initiative to save the species from extinction which has divided ape experts.
Extraordinary photos of the orangutan baby ward at the Bukit Merah Lake Town eco-resort in Malaysia – dubbed Orangutan Island – can be seen in today’s Daily Mail.
The 23 apes currently being cared for at the hospital are kept in cots, wear nappies, play with dolls and are fed milk from bottles by vets and nurses.
When the orangutans are well enough and old enough they are moved to an infant development unit where they learn the skills they need to survive in the wild.
All of the apes are members of the highly endangered Bornean sub-species of orangutan which is native to parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. Advocates of Orangutan Island, which opened five years ago, argue that the facility is doing vital work to save the apes from extinction.
‘We work with the state government of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, who send us ill or abandoned orangutans that we care for here,” Dr D. Sabapathy told the Daily Mail.
“The ultimate plan in the next year is to enact the return of our 23 apes to the wilds of Borneo, into a secret location. It is a matter of the survival of the species.”
But critics argue that Bukit Merah is more concerned with attracting tourists than saving the orangutan and say that raising the babies outside their natural habitat is wrong.
“I don’t believe the orangutan should be kept in isolated places, like a penal island,” said Malaysian Nature Society senior member Neal Nirmal Ariyapala, according to Orangutan Conservancy. “Bukit Merah is a commercial enterprise and I think money takes precedence more than environmental concern.”
Helen Buckland of the Sumatran Orangutan Society also said there were concerns about the possibility of diseases spreading between humans and apes.
“Rehabilitation and tourism don’t mix,” she said. “In many documented cases, there is a strong probable disease transmission link between humans and primates.”
[...] Zoogle Editor put an intriguing blog post on Hospital treats orangutans like human babies | Zoogle NewsHere’s a quick excerptBaby orangutans found sick or abandoned are being checked into a controversial hospital in Malaysia in an initiative that has divided ape experts. [...]