Hellabrunn Zoo supports a project by the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), which operates a reintroduction station in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park on the island of Sumatra. Founded in 1995, the national park has one of the largest remaining contiguous lowland rainforests on the island. Its unique ecosystem provides a home for all the large mammal species of Sumatra: Sumatran elephants, Sumatran tigers, Malaysian tapirs and Sumatran orangutans.
Together for nature conservation
At the heart of the project is the protection of the lowland rainforests in Bukit TigaPuluh from slash-and-burn and deforestation, which are implemented to make way for oil palm and acacia plantations. The reintroduction of Sumatran orangutans into the national park aims to establish a lifeboat population from the wild population in the north of the island. The project also raises awareness among the local community about the value of Bukit Tigapuluh’s unique ecosystem by supporting initiatives for sustainable agriculture development, human-wildlife conflict prevention and environmental education projects in schools.
From jungle school into the wild
At jungle school, confiscated and orphaned orangutans learn everything they need to know about survival in the forest - from tree climbing, to what plants they can eat, to how to build a sturdy nest. After about two years, they are brought to the reintroduction station, where they are released into the adjacent national park. There they will undergo a period of observation until they have become fully accustomed to life in the jungle and can survive on their own. To date, the project has reintroduced more than 175 orangutans into the national park. With the first births in the wild, there is hope that a new orangutan population can be established.
Living alongside the grey giant
The Sumatran elephant, a subspecies of the Asian elephant, is listed as critically endangered. Fewer the 2,000 individuals remain in the wild, living in fragmented populations across the island. Their shrinking habitat means that the elephants are increasingly encroaching on human settlements and fields. To mitigate conflict, FZS has an anti-conflict team that monitors the elephant population in BukitTigapuluh to prevent encounters between humans and elephants. The team advises the neighbouring communities on how to deal with wild elephants and avoid crop damage caused by elephants. Local schoolchildren also are taught about elephants and other wild animals and the importance of the rainforest.
