Nesting Behavior of Kalimantan Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus as a Release Subject at Forest School Sekolah Hutan Tembak Lestari, Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia
Nesting Behavior of Kalimantan Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus as a Release Subject at Forest School Sekolah Hutan Tembak Lestari, Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia
Luthfiralda Sjahfirdi1*, Zulfi Atsiil Suandhy1, Tatang Mitra Setia2
ABSTRACT
This research investigated nesting behavior in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) as a suitable release subject at the Sekolah Hutan Tembak Lestari forest school, Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. This study aims to evaluate two orangutan release candidates through nest-building skills. These two orangutans were observed daily between 04:30 and 06:30 pm from September to November 2019 using continuous focal animal and all-occurrence sampling methods. Nest-building skills were assessed using the Likert scale. Moni (male orangutan) was always observed to nest using used nests. Meanwhile, Terra (female orangutan) was frequently observed building new nests, although she was caught sleeping on the forest floor several times. During observations, it was found that they prefer nest trees with a circumference of more than 1 m with a reasonably dense canopy refers preferred trees that serve as nesting sites, those are bambang tree (Lithocarpus sp.) with a tree circumference of 3 m and kempilik tree (Quercus sp.) 2.46 m and often reuse or rebuild old nests. Our results showed that both orangutans had moderate predicate nest-building skills, with a percentage of 68.06% for Moni and 63.89% for Terra. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney U statistical tests, (α = 0.05; p = 0.415) showed that the nest-building ability between the two individuals is not significantly different. With nest-building ability not significantly different between the two orangutans with a moderate predicate, the two orangutans can be released together.
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