Written by Adul (Camera trap project coordinator), Azis (Orangutan project coordinator), and Sophie Kirklin (Primate scientist)
Our camera traps catch all kinds of photos and videos of the amazing animals that call the Sebangau National Park home. The camera traps are camouflaged in the forest, but don’t always go unnoticed!
Recently we found one camera trap which was broken and had fallen into the water. We were wondering why this camera trap, which was strapped to the tree before about 50cm from the ground, had fallen into the water. When we checked the memory card, we saw a lot of photos and videos which showed us what had caused the camera to fall and break.
At first, when we watched the videos we were confused because we could only see a hand, which was very similar to a human hand. After watching for a bit longer, we saw that the hand belonged to a young orangutan! We worked with the help of all our colleagues in the orangutan research team to identify the orangutan and discovered that this was Icarus. We could easily identify him by his facial features and distinctive behaviour. The camera trap recorded this event for 8 minutes from start to finish.
Icarus is the son of Indy. He is about 6 years old, and we are already used to his cheeky behaviour. Whenever we follow him and collect data on him and Indy, he always likes to swing in the trees above the researchers’ heads, doing his best to throw leaves and branches at us!
Photo by Andrea and Alessandro | BNF | CIMTROP
One month later, when some researchers were walking in the forest, they ran into a mother orangutan and her child. At first, they saw the adult female alone, enjoying eating fruit from yellow lianna, they thought there was only one orangutan up in the tree. After a few moments though, they heard a sound and saw the trees shaking! They tried to see what it was, and there was a small orangutan, who they thought was the child of the adult female close by. They took photos and some videos of the young orangutan, investigating and playing with the camera trap, which was about 11-15 metres off the ground!
When they returned to base camp, they asked the primate team to look at the photos and videos and help to identify the little orangutan who was so interested in the camera trap, and the team said: “That is Icarus!” Apparently, Icarus’s new hobby is to play with camera traps, to make our team laugh!
Perangkap kamera kami merekam banyak jenis foto dan video dari berbagai satwa indah yang tinggal di Taman Nasional Sebangau. Perangkap kamera tersamarkan dengan cukup baik di hutan, tapi penyamaran ini tidak selalu berhasil!
Beberapa waktu terakhir, ada satu perangkap kamera kami yang rusak karena jatuh ke dalam air, kami bertanya-tanya kenapa perangkap kamera yang sebelumnya terpasang dengan baik di pohon dengan ketinggian kira-kira 50cm dari permukaan tanah bisa terjatuh ke air. Ketika kami cek kartu memori, kami menemukan ada cukup banyak foto dan video yang memperlihatkan bukti kamera bisa terjatuh dan rusak.
Awalnya ketika kami menonton video, kami bingung karena hanya bisa melihat tangan yang hampir sama seperti tangan manusia. Setelah menonton lebih lama, kami melihat ini adalah anak orangutan! Kami bekerjasama dengan bantuan dari semua teman-teman tim peneliti orangutan untuk mengidentifikasi orangutan ini dan mengetahui kalau itu adalah Icarus. Kami bisa dengan mudah mengidentifikasinya dari ciri-ciri muka dan perilaku khusus dia. Kejadian ini terekam perangkap kamera selama 8 menit dari awal sampai akhir.
Icarus adalah anak Indy. Dia adalah jantan berumur kira-kira 6 tahun, dan kami sudah terbiasa dengan perilaku nakalnya. Setiap kami mengikutinya dan mengumpulkan data tentang dia serta Indy, dia selalu menganggu dengan berjalan di antara pohon tepat di atas kepala peneliti, berusaha dengan melempar ranting dan daun kepada kami di bawah!
Berselang satu bulan kemudian, ketika ada peneliti yang berjalan di hutan, secara kebetulan mereka bertemu ibu dan anak orangutan. Awalnya, mereka hanya melihat betina dewasa sedang asyik makan buah liana kuning sendirian, mereka mengira hanya ada satu betina dewasa saja di atas pohon. Beberapa saat kemudian, muncul suara pepohonan yang bergoyang! Mereka mencoba melihat apa itu, dan ternyata itu adalah orangutan kecil yang kemungkinan merupakan anak dari betina dewasa tadi. Mereka kemudian mengambil foto serta video anak orangutan tersebut yang sedang menginvetigasi dan bermain dengan perangkap kamera yang ada di atas pohon dengan ketinggian 11-15m!
Begitu mereka kembali tiba di kamp, mereka bertanya dan memperlihatkan foto serta video kepada tim primata. Kemudia tim primata mengatakan, “Ini Icarus!” Rupanya Icarus mempunyai kegemaran baru yaitu bermain-main dengan perangkap, yang membuat tim kami tertawa.
