Dudley residents are helping preserve their species

orangutan having a peek at the wrong end of the tunnel!

“It can take hours, or in the case of our solitary male Benji even days for an animal to decide if it's safe enough, but it was wonderful to watch our orangutans’ initial reservations overtaken by their curiosity as they came out to explore.

“All the orangutans are benefiting from access to a large complex, outdoor facility and the response from staff and visitors has been incredibly positive.”

The orangs’ indoor den has also undergone a spruce-up, with contractors installing brand new insulated corrugated cladding to the outside of the building.

[THE FOUR Bornean orangutans at Dudley Zoo and Castle – Jazz, Sprout, Benji and Djimat – are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild, and the zoo is also helping orangutans in their native homeland.

Listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, Bornean orangutans are rapidly dwindling in number, mainly due to the destruction of their native rainforests for palm oil plantations. That is why breeding programmes are vital in providing a sustainable captive population to serve as a safety net against their extinction.

Dudley Zoo and Castle has pledged financial support to Sintang Orangutan Center in Indonesia, which specialises in the rescue, rehabilitation and release of the charismatic creatures, alongside raising awareness and educating local people in a bid to reduce deforestation and stop illegal poaching.

The funding has enabled the building of a second Forest School in Jerora, an area just over two kilometres away from Sintang.

Running alongside an already operational Forest School, the twohectare jungle enclosure will allow around eight orangutans the chance to learn basic survival skills, such as climbing, foraging for food and nest building, before they’re released into protected wild forests. q

Planning permission was granted for the development in mid-March 2020, but acquiring that in itself was problematic for the attraction. The zoo is sited in the grounds of the medieval Dudley Castle: a conservation site that hosts 12 Grade Two-listed buildings and a Grade One-listed monument. Tree Preservation Orders and two Scheduled Monument Orders are also in force.

Following planning being secured, construction was delayed for a further 12 months as a result of the COVID pandemic.

Now the new exhibit is completed, it is hoped that further funding can be secured to redevelop the older outdoor area as part of the zoo’s continuing development plans.

On the opening of the new facility, the zoo expressed its appreciation of the support it has from local people.

It posted: “We’re saying Thank You to everyone who has helped us bring our plans to fruition, especially the visitors who donated money towards our enclosure appeal and helped us raise funds. It’s wonderful watching them take full advantage of the new space.” q