Hanging in there

Rukmini Sarkar, a Grade 12 pupil at the Dubai American Academy is actively involved in the conservation of orang-utans.

The city of Dubai is an amazing place to live in, but what is surprising is that not many people are conscious of the threats that exotic wildlife face. I have discovered that if awareness is created, people are more than willing to help.

I spent many years of my childhood in Indonesia. When I was in third grade in Jakarta International School, I was lucky to be taught by a wonderful teacher, Mr Robert Weber. Mr Weber was passionate about orang-utans and made genuine efforts to help conserve them. He would donate a part of his salary every month to the welfare of these animals.

To create awareness amongst students, he would hold an event called the 'orangu-walk', the proceeds of which would go towards the conservation of these apes. Inspired by this great teacher, I too began to take an interest in orang-utans and their endangered existence.

At my first orangu-walk, I was eight years old, and such was my drive and enthusiasm that I ended up walking eight kilometres!

In sixth grade, Mr Weber became my teacher again. Apart from holding the walk, he would also organise trips
to the zoo. The experience I had playing with and feeding the orang-utans was truly special.

Moving to Dubai

After some years in Indonesia, we relocated to the UAE. As I was settling in and adjusting to my new environment, I forgot about orang-utans and their endangered status for a while. Then a few months ago I heard very sad news from friends
in Jakarta that my favourite teacher and mentor, Mr Weber, had been killed in an accident.

I was devastated as I realised that the person who had worked so hard and so sincerely all his life for the conservation of orang-utans was no longer with us. That was when I took it upon myself to help conserve orang-utans, as a legacy to Mr. Weber. Suddenly, it all came back to me – my passion for the animals was reborn.

My trip to Malaysia

The Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC) in Sabah, Malaysia is one of the largest orang-utan sanctuaries in the world. It is immensely popular with wildlife activists and tourists all over the world. When I first expressed the desire to be a volunteer there, I was put on a waiting list for three years! Luckily I did not have to wait that long and when I finally got my chance.

I spent a week as a volunteer there during my summer holidays this year. At 16 years of age, I was probably
the youngest volunteer that had ever been there, and definitely the first one from Dubai.

At this sanctuary orphaned orang-utans are nurtured, cared for and trained until they are ready to face the wild on their own. Through eight stages, an orang-utan is finally taught to call the forest its true home. When an orang-utan does not return to human care and security but learns to live independently in the wild, staff at the sanctuary refer to it as graduation.

I was assigned to the nursery where I got a chance to interact with baby orang-utans. They looked at us with trust and love in their eyes and eagerly accepted the milk or food that we offered them. I also taught them to climb, bathed them and assisted the staff with medical check-ups. Like human babies, they love to be cuddled and it was impossible not to fall in love with them.

Orang-utans have 96.4 per cent similar DNA to human beings. Like human beings, each one has a distinct personality. Some are shy, some are very friendly, some like to bite and some are loners. The centre also has a breeding programme and the efforts being made to ensure that the species survives are most commendable. The staff there is very professional and deeply dedicated to their cause.

Hoping to make a difference

It is heartbreaking to learn how these lovable apes are being illegally poached, maimed and tortured. As you read this, only an estimated 30,000 still exist in the wild. Experts predict that they will be extinct in the next 10 to 20 years.

To help make a difference, I took the initiative and produced an 11-minute documentary on orang-utans and their rehabilitation in the Sepilok sanctuary. I made a documentary titled Hanging on for Life that I filmed at the Sepilok sanctuary as well as a reserve around the sanctuary called the Sepilok Forest Reserve. After considerable research and working with orang-utans, I was able to script it knowledgably.

I also interviewed the officer-in-charge, Ms Sylvia Alsisto, on the wonderful work that the centre is doing and how we can all do our bit to help the conservation campaign. Once back in Dubai, I was ready to produce the documentary. I spent hours working at a studio and after burning a lot of midnight oil, the
video footage was finally co-ordinated with the script.

At long last, my documentary was complete. It is only a small effort, but I sincerely hope it will help raise awareness about the endangered species.

Overwhelming support

I am a Grade 12 student at the Dubai American Academy and in a bid to help conserve this amazing animal, I have set up a conservation club at school. The support I got from
teachers and students alike has been overwhelming and nearly 100 people have already signed up for the club.

We hope to hold the orangu-walk in the near future and we also intend to raise funds through the swim-a-thon that the school already organises. My principal has already seen the documentary and plans to show it to the students soon.

Everyone has been incredibly helpful and supportive. I would like to make a special mention of my parents, who stood by me right from the beginning and had it not been for their valuable encouragement and backing, I could never have come this far.

I would love to return to Sepilok and offer my services as a volunteer in the sanctuary again should the opportunity arise. But for now, I am concentrating on spreading awareness among the people of Dubai so that people can sit up, take notice and contribute towards the survival of these amazing animals. Saving endangered wildlife is a responsibility that belongs to every citizen of this planet.

– As told to Mehmudah Rehman, a Dubai-based freelancer