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ZOO NEWS M EM B ER MAGA ZIN E 05 0 1 VOLU M E 38 MARCH 20 18 For Fleur Butcher, caring for orang-utans has been a life-long passion. She's been a Zoo Keeper for the last 29 years and although she's worked with a range of species, she is one of the keepers that has the privilege of looking after the six Sumatran Orang-utans that call Melbourne Zoo their home. "I love the way they challenge me to do better on a daily basis. Their intelligence, naughtiness, and playfulness as well as their interesting personalities and individual preferences are fascinating," she says. This passion for primates has gone much further than the zoo walls in Parkville, with Fleur travelling to Borneo annually to volunteer her time at the Borneo Orang- utan Survival Foundation (BOSF). This is a reintroduction organisation focussed on returning displaced orang-utans, affected by the palm oil crisis, back to the wild. "I first volunteered with BOSF back in 1996, but it wasn't until last year that I had one of the best experiences. I joined a release and was able to return Janu, a rescue orang- utan, to his forest home. It was incredible to be part of that." Fleur's visit isn't just for personal interest – she provides the staff at BOSF with husbandry insights, runs staff training, and shares tips and hints about orang-utan enrichment as well as best practice on orang-utan welfare. "Working alongside the inspirational Indonesian teams is an absolute privilege. I know my role in all of this is to inspire our own community to direct much needed funds into organisations such as BOSF." dentistry and to enable them to carry out more laboratory testing onsite, as external assistance is difficult to arrange. Helen says "that first trip was very rewarding. I was also focused on teaching the staff lab work, and by the end of my time I had been invited to speak at the monthly meeting about diagnostic tests and how they can help get a proper answer to a patient's problem. As there was no veterinary laboratory The babies need intensive round-the- clock care until they're at least one year old... THANK YOU ZOO MEMBERS Without the support of your Zoo Membership, we would not be able to continue this extensive work in raising awareness of the palm oil crisis and its effect on animal habitat. But there is more that you can do! Our Don't Palm us Off community conservation campaign aims to encourage Australian manufacturers to switch to Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). CSPO is produced without causing further deforestation, thus saving the homes of orang-utans, Siamang Gibbons, Sumatran Tigers and many other species. If you haven't already registered, show your support for the campaign here: zoo.org.au/palmoil in Medan, frequently the vets there would make their diagnoses without this support. They were very keen to learn how they could do many tests themselves." She says that her goal for this visit is to improve the capacity to perform diagnostic tests in the labs at both Medan and the Sumatran Orang- utan Conservation Program release site, a forest camp at Jantho, where rehabilitated orang-utans are returned to the wild. She will also coach and mentor the vets in their interpretation of the test results, developing a more systematic approach to diagnosis. Helen explains that as there will inevitably be turnover in the vet team, she also plans to focus on preparing a set of protocols for future reference when dealing with the wide variety of clinical cases that they are presented with. According to Helen, that as well as helping the Indonesian vets develop their diagnostic knowledge and skills, she values their insights into the problems they manage daily with orang- utans. Looking after one species is so different from the wide array that Helen has seen at Melbourne Zoo over 30 years, so hearing their very specific orang-utan experiences and knowledge is a great opportunity! KEEPING FOR LIFE