Call of the wild for Aman the orangutan
21 June 2007
Aman can now see again thanks to the Geat Orangutan Project
AMAN the orangutan might be able to return to the wild following the restoration of his sight after the world’s first cataract operation on the species.
The 19-year-old male was blind for 10 years but since the successful operation organised by The Great Orangutan Project based in Dunstable Road, Redbourn, he can now see his three offspring for the first time.
The project was founded by local conservationists Guillaume Feldman and Afzaal Mauthoor. They set up the base for their company, Way Out Experiences, in Redbourn in 2003 which gives volunteers the chance to work on conservation projects across Asia.
The aim of the Great Orangutan Project is to increase the size of the Borneo orangutan populations and bring them back from the brink of extinction.
The project organised Aman’s operation at the Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo which provides rescued orangutans with a safe haven.
The Orangutan Appeal UK charity funded the £2,700 costs of the operation with the ophthalmologist, anaesthetist and vet involved donating their services.
The latest event is a twist in Aman’s otherwise sad tale. He was rescued from a market in Sarawak in 1989 and was then kept as a pet before being handed over to the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.
While at Semenggoh he bit into a power cable which gave him a severe electric shock which is thought to have brought on the cataracts.
Aman’s deteriorating sight meant he had to be brought back into captivity and the safety of the Matang Wildlife Centre.
Aman is just one of the Orangutans the project has helped. But Afzaal, of Birchmead Close, St Albans, explained the real aim was for the projects to continue after the helpers had gone. To do that they had to involve the local community.
He said that many gap-year projects failed after the volunteers had left because the locals had not been educated on how to use the resource.
He said: “In Sarawak for example the locals used to see orangutans as pests and would shoot them. But by involving them in the project they now they see them as a way of making a living and look to protect them.”
Source: http://www.hertsad.co.uk/
