Camp Leakey
What started out to be just two small huts is now a functional research facility. Camp Leakey is where all of the research the OFI conducts on orangutans is done. Others other than the OFI have studied and researched at Camp Leakey including graduate and undergraduate students from multiple institutions such as Univeristas Nasiona, a college in Indonesia, and universities in the United States. The camp now consists of about 19 miles of trails, rainforest, and swamp land for the rehabilitated orangutans and the wild orangutans that made their home there. The OFI takes in ex-captive, hurt, and orphaned orangutans. Once the ape is in the care of the Dr. Galdikas and her staff, it is raised (if it is young) or treated for any diseases or injuries in the Care Center. The orangutans in the care center are taken each day by their keepers to Camp Leakey to be allowed to play in their natural habitat. This is done to slowly acclimate the orangutans back into the forest so one day they can be released. Once the orangutan is old enough and deemed suitable, it is released back into the wild. Some orangutans never learn to fend for themselves and for that reason can never leave the care center and the staff. Some orangutans do not want to leave the base of the OFI (where the staff eats and lives) and will venture back from time to time to visit the staff and volunteers.
Read more about this topic: Orangutan Foundation International
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