Meet the Locals: Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra

Portrait of a Sumatran Urangutan

Sandra and Her Baby
A rehabilitated semi-wild orangutan (Pongo abelii) visits the feeding station in Gunung Leuser National Park with her young baby.

Never have I felt more like David Attenborough.

You know: in that classic, ground-breaking twelfth episode of Life on Earth (1979), investigating primates and their “Life in the Trees”, where the broadcaster and naturalist finds himself face to face with an adult female mountain gorilla in Rwanda, and turns to talk softly to the cameras.

We were in Asia, not Africa, and they were orangutans, not gorillas, but as I crouched in a jungle clearing, talking softly while a wild primate walked not four feet away from me, I felt that sense of awe and momentary connection. There is something magic about making eye-contact with a sentient ‘forest person’ (orang utan in Malay) in her own environment.

We had been in the jungles of Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatra for over three hours, much of it trekking across steep, slippery and narrow trails before our “wild” encounters, and we were having a wonderful morning.

Join me on a rare opportunity to visit a small portion of the  UNESCO World Heritage site 1167: ‘The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra’.

Sun through a volcanic ash haze on the Bahorok River

Sun on the Bahorok River
Just two weeks before our stay at Bukit Lawang, volcanic Mount Sinabung, about 50 km south as the crow flies, erupted, killing at least 14 people. The volcanic ash still hung thick in the air, like smoke.

National Park guide on the suspension Bridge to Bukit Lawang.

Bridge to Bukit Lawang
From our “Ecolodge”, we crossed …

Beach huts on the rocky shore of the Bahorok River, Bukit Lawang, Indonesia

Bathing Huts on the Shore
… over the Bahorok River, where the locals were picnicking and bathing, …

Looking over the Rusty corrugated iron Roofs of Bukit Lawang.

Rusty Roofs
… into the small tourist village of Bukit Lawang.

Locals sitting at the side of the road, Bukit Lawang.

Bukit Lawang Locals
Local Indonesians watch our progress through the muddy ‘main street’.

Dinghy-ferry across the Bahorok River

Dinghy-Ferry
Access to the Gunung Leuser National Park is by inflatable dinghy.

Portrait of a laughing Indonesian Boatman

Happy Boatman
The boatman who steered us across the river thought we were pretty entertaining.

Indonesian Ranger and an orang-utan with a baby on a feeding platform, Gunung Leuser National Park

Sepi and the Ranger
The first orang-utan to visit the feeding station, located a short walk into the park, was seventeen-year-old Sepi.

A female Sumatran orang-utan and her baby, eating bananas, Gunung Leuser National Park

Sepi and her Baby
Her two-and-a-half-year-old baby never left her side.

Park Ranger holding a bunch of bananas, feeding platform,  Gunung Leuser National Park.

Park Ranger
At the Bukit Lawang Rehabilitation Centre, orangutans who had been rescued from captivity were taught the skills necessary to survive in the wild, and released into Gunung Leuser National Park. More than 200 orangutans have been released, and the rangers monitor their progress. The daily feedings at the platform help the orangutans supplement their diets until they can be fully independent. It also allows visitors a view of the semi-wild primates.

Portrait of a sumatran orang-utan with her baby, Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia

Sandra and Her Baby
The second orangutan to visit the feeding platform was 40-year-old Sandra with her fourth, and presumably last, baby. Female orangutans have eight-year intervals between babies; for the first four months, infants cling to their mothers, and they are completely dependent for two years.

Injured  male crab-eating macaque eating on the feeding platform, Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia

Long-Tailed Macaque
Clearly not the alpha-male, this macaque (Macaca fascicularis) had been in the wars and lost: his facial and leg injuries looked recent. He kept a careful watch as he picked over the scraps left on the feeding platform.

Thick tree trunk in the jungle, Gunung Leuser National Park

Through the Jungle
Our guide asked us if we were feeling ‘strong’, and then led us into the jungle on the not-so-easy path…

Indonesian guide, all but hidden by thick foliage in the jungle, Gunung Leuser National Park

Lost?
… up hills so steep we were clinging to vines and roots, and through foliage so thick we often lost sight our guides.

Thomas Leaf Monkey in the foliage, Gunung Leuser National Park

Thomas Leaf Monkey
Our sharp-eyed guides found some delightful blue-grey and white Thomas’s Langurs (Presbytis thomasi).

Portrait: Thomas Leaf Monkey, Gunung Leuser National Park

Thomas Leaf Monkey
Endemic to Sumatra, this vulnerable monkey – like the orangutan – is threatened by habitat loss.

Thomas Leaf Monkey holding a banana peel, Gunung Leuser National Park

Thomas Leaf Monkey
As long as the guides had bananas, the monkeys were happy to visit us.

Portrait: Thomas Leaf Monkey, Gunung Leuser National Park

Thomas Leaf Monkey
With their mohawks and whiskers, they are very cute.

An official Gunung Leuser National Park Guide, sitting and smoking.

Official Park Guide
Ayub, one of our guides, was adept at spotting and calling animals. The use of official guides is important for the care and protection of the animals – and for the livelihood of the local community.

An adult female orang-utan swinging on jungle vines, Gunung Leuser National Park.

Swinging In
Orangutans, especially the Sumatran ones, spend nearly all their time in the trees. Ratna swung in to see what our guides had to offer when she heard Ayub calling her.

An adult female orang-utan walking on the jungle floor, Gunung Leuser National Park.

Ratna
She dropped to the ground, and it was wonderful to be so close to her as she walked past me to retrieve a carrot.

Four-Year-Old orang-utan  swinging in the jungle,  Gunung Leuser National Park.

Juvenile
Ratna’s youngster, a gorgeous little fluff-ball, stayed safely up in the trees.

Adult female orangutan with a nursing juvenile at her breast, Gunung Leuser National Park.

Ratna and her Juvenile
Juveniles are usually weaned at about four years of age – so this one won’t be nursing much longer.

Closeup: young adult orang-utan, Gunung Leuser National Park.

Orangutan
The guides had no name for the last orangutan we met because she was born in the wild.

During his encounter with the gorillas, (Sir) David Attenborough said: “There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than with any other animal I know.”

Looking into the gentle brown eyes of the critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, the same could be said.

As soon as we walked out of the park boundaries, we were back in the rubber plantations, much like those we’d seen, mile after mile, on the drive from Medan the day before.

Young Rubber Plantation, Bukit Lawang, Indonesia

Young Rubber Plantation
Rubber trees stretch into the distance, making it easy to see how challenging it is to protect the remaining small patches of wild habitat.

Text: Take only Pictures

 

The less-than-7000 remaining Sumatran orangutans inhabit only a tiny corner of the planet –

We need to help them keep it.

Pictures: 16February2014

  • Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen - April 3, 2014 - 6:19 pm

    Ursula, as usual I enjoy your reports and images. Warm greetings, DietmutReplyCancel

  • Ursula - April 4, 2014 - 12:03 am

    Thank you, Dietmut! I am always happy for your visits. 🙂ReplyCancel

  • gabe - April 5, 2014 - 12:52 am

    Very well doneReplyCancel

  • Melissa - April 6, 2014 - 11:28 am

    Excellent coverage, Ursula. Your images and story make this special part of the world come to life. Thanks for a delightful trip down Memory Lane.ReplyCancel

  • susan dejesus - April 6, 2014 - 12:10 pm

    Thank you, again, Ursula! What an amazing experience!!ReplyCancel

    • Ursula - April 8, 2014 - 2:04 am

      Thanks, Susan, Gabe and Melissa. 🙂
      As Gabe and Melissa know first hand, it is indeed a special place.ReplyCancel

  • […] the breathtakingly awesome experience of meeting Sumatran orangutans in their wild jungle habitat (Ursula’s Weekly Wanders: Meet the Locals). Truly, it was a memorable encounter – one not easily […]ReplyCancel

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