17 August 2011

Orangutan Susi is saved from suffering

IAR vet Dr Adi brings us news of the latest arrival at International Animal Rescue's orangutan centre in Ketapang, Western Borneo.

Susi was rescued by our team in KetapangOn 30 July IAR vet Dr Anita successfully rescued a four year old female orangutan named Susi from the community in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. When Dr Anita arrived she found poor Susi looking very miserable and living in a terrible state of neglect. She had some really severe injuries, including a foul-smelling neck wound from the heavy chain that had been around her neck for several years until it was eventually removed at Christmas 2010.

Susi was anaesthetised before she was treated. Then Dr Anita and her team checked the condition of the wound before cutting the neck hair around it and cleaning out the pus and necrotic tissue using H2O2. After that Susi was given an injection of antibiotics (Amoxyclav) and analgesic (Tramadol).

Susi was then put in a transport cage in readiness for the move to Ketapang for further treatment and care. During this evacuation process her condition was stable and her appetite was good: she was given all kinds of fruit and ate it all, including rambutan, banana, and mango. On arrival at the Airport Supadio Pontianak, the team headed to the administration of quarantine and cargo aircraft.

Finally, at 1600 hrs, accompanied by Dr Anita and Ms Niken (Balai KSDA Kalbar), Susi travelled to Ketapang, arriving just half an hour later and being brought straight to IAR’s centre. On arrival, Susi was transferred to the quarantine cage to get intensive care from the medical team. Hopefully her condition will improve during the next three to four weeks and her neck wound will begin to heal.