Great news from Nyaru Menteng!
Dec 10, 2010
© BOS
Rolling and crawling across the lawn of the Nyaru Menteng rehabilitation centre in Indonesian Borneo comes Aya, her destination a tall mango tree. Grasping the trunk, she begins to hoist herself up, and within a few minutes she is perched on a branch near the top of the tree, surveying her domain. Not unusual behaviour for an orangutan, you may think – but Aya is no ordinary orangutan, and in her case it borders on miraculous.
A Childhood in Captivity
On 14 May 2010, after having been discovered in captivity by employees of an Indonesian oil company, Aya was delivered to the WSPA supported Nyaru Menteng sanctuary. She was paralysed from the waist down as a result of spending almost all of her life in a tiny wooden box only a metre tall and half a metre wide.Seven or eight years ago her former owner, Mr Rudi, had taken her from the forest as a baby and confined her to this tiny prison where standing, turning around or even lying down were impossible luxuries.
Consequently, Aya’s arms and legs were atrophied due to lack of use, and she was almost completely immobile. Severe malnutrition and an acute protein deficiency meant that she appeared only half her age.
X-rays suggest that the damage to Aya’s feet and ankles may well be permanent. Her joints are fused together and her ankles are turned backwards so that when she stands the tops of her feet are on the ground instead of her soles. She cannot voluntarily rotate her ankles or move her toes, which remain permanently clenched.
Nonetheless, at Nyaru Menteng, her withered limbs are treated with a gentle daily regime of physiotherapy and massage, and she enjoys a varied and nutritious diet of fruits, vegetables and supplemental protein. At Nyaru Menteng, staff are careful to minimise human contact, but Aya needs round-the-clock care. Therefore, to ensure that she never becomes too attached to one individual, a different babysitter is assigned exclusively to her care each day.
The Road to Recovery
Such dedication meant that it wasn’t long before Aya regained the use of her arms and hands. First, flexibility returned to her fingers and, later, strength began to course through her muscles. Despite her tragic injuries, Aya is now able to pull her legs in and out, wrap them around a tree, swing them up onto a branch, and even raise herself from a sitting position to a standing position – all with support.Aya has free reign over almost the entire area: trees, climbing frames, playgrounds and toys are all at her disposal, and she never fails to make good use of all of them on a daily basis. She has such an incredible sense of determination and drive that it doesn’t appear to occur to her that she might be in any way injured at all. She gets to where she needs to go by using her elbows and knees, and never asks to be carried.
When she reaches something that can be climbed… up she goes. Her ascent is perhaps not as graceful as that of her fellow orphans, but her agility is all the more impressive considering her extreme disadvantage. She loves to sit on a branch, with her legs dangling below her, as she reaches for young leaves and buds to devour. On the climbing frames and playgrounds, she enjoys swinging across the rubber ropes, bouncing up and down, or hoisting herself into a tyre swing.
A Bright Future
© BOS
Despite the tragedy of her early life, Aya never ceases to amaze us with her bottomless joy and her thirst for fun – no other orangutan in the history of orangutans opens its mouth as wide as Aya does when she laughs! And luckily for us, she laughs at everything: a good swing on the tyres, the wind on her face, and of course, a relentless tickle from her babysitter.
Our medical team retain a little hope that Aya, who is still growing, may one day regain the use of her feet. At a minimum, this would allow her – perhaps for the first time ever – to move freely and easily in the forest, but more importantly it might mean that she could eventually be rereleased into the wild at some point in the future. Given Aya’s strong determination and passion for life, it is not unreasonable to believe she might just achieve this – and with the help of the amazing team looking after her at Nyaru Menteng, she has every chance of success.
Go Wild this Christmas and help animals like Aya
Have you done all of your Christmas shopping yet? Do you have that one person who is just impossible to buy for? We have the present solution for you! You can make a difference to the lives of animals like Aya and help us to develop life-saving projects like Nyaru Mentang by buying a WSPA Really Wild Gift. These unique gifts start at just $20 and you can feel confident that every present you buy is money well spent, and each person who receives one of these e-cards will know the life of an animal in need has been transformed in their name.
Making a difference is quick and easy! Just click on this link donate.wspa.org.au/reallywildgifts and you can choose your favourite animal, or you can even choose to “Save All Animals”.
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