AFTER being missing for almost three months, Ritchie the Orangutan emerged from the forests to attend the 54th Malaysia Day celebration at the Semenggoh Orangutan Rehabilitation centre on Saturday. Ritchie, 36, the 160kg alpha male at the 45-year-old Rehabilitation centre had not been seen in the vicinity because of the fruiting season and the Forest Rangers were worried for the primate’s safety.
To celebrate Malaysia Day, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation had organised a first anniversary birthday celebration for Ritchie’s granddaughter MAS (Malaysia) who was born on September 16, 2016. However, MAS’ mother, Annalisa and her baby did not turn up on the wet and soggy day. However, much to the surprise of the forestry officials Ritchie suddenly appeared at about 11 a.m. while a crowd of about 200 visitors watched in awe. It was also a great surprise for me because the last time I saw my “foster” orangutan son was about seven years ago. Ritchie had first mated with the “grandma” of Semonggok who gave birth to Annalisa.
About 50 well-wishers who had paid RM200 per annum to in the Forestry’s “Adopt an Ape” scheme, shared MAS’ birthday cake. I rescued Ritchie almost 30 years ago at Nanga Sumpa in Batang Ai Dam about 30 years ago and he was named after me. As the story goes, in December 1989, I went on an assignment to write about an Iban longhouse in the Batang Ai dam area together with an entourage that included the owner of Borneo Adventure, a travel and tours Company, a former journalist from the NST K.C. Boey and several others. Before we could settle into our rooms opposite Nanga Delok longhouse under the charge of headman “Tuai Rumah” Jonathan Jugat, a slightly balding man approached me. He said: “I have an Orang Utan baby for sale. Do you want it?” He ushered me to a spot under the longhouse where the poor debilitated primate was caged– a young primate about 18 inches tall had been squeezed into an 18- inch square cage with hardly any room to move.
My first reaction was to tell him off. But I realised that if I did he would have bolted off with the animal, and the poor orang utan would have to go on another sad journey imprisoned in his small cage with his captor. Instead, I referred to my peers who agreed that we must rescue the primate. We agreed that I warn the poacher about the illegality of keeping a totally protected animal and threatened to report him to the authorities.
With that, theman begged us not to report him. He left the animal with us but before he left us in a hurry, he begged for a few ringgit so that he would not go home empty handed. We gave him RM100 before he scooted off as fast as possible, probably to indonesia–about a day’s journey from Batang Ai. In those days many of Sarawak’s VIPs kept Orang Utans which were caged in private homes. I was familiar with what was happening and despite knowing that it was wrong, knew that some important person got away with it. One of those who kept several Orang Utan in his private zoo was a personal friend, the Environmental Minister! At Nanga Delok, it was agreed that I would take the animal home that Saturday before surrendering it to the authorities on Monday.
On Reaching Tabuan Desa, my wife who worked in Malaysian Airlines had a look and found that the poor primate had a bloated stomach. She gave him a dose of a deworming fluid called “Combantrine” and shortly after, he defecated a bunch of worms. We then fed him with fresh fruits. To cut a long story short, the Sarawak Forestry Department came to our home on a Sunday,and a Kelabit friend of mine David Labang and his staff, took “Ritchie Junior” off our hands.
The primate was taken to the Semenggok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Kuching. I was told the same day that that night, he was put in a cage in the holding area. Apparently, that’s where he met an older female “Seduku” –she was named after an island called Pulau Seduku—who managed to free the new “inmate”. Apparently, they eloped and ever since then they have been happily “married”— the parents of at least nine off-spring Note: Ritchie has at least seven “wives” in Semenggoh which has 28 inmates. Happy Malaysia day Ritchie!
