The background of our animals are often heartbreaking and most of them have either been confiscated by the custom in the harbour or by the police and brought to Tasikoki Wildlfe Rescue Centre.

In Tasikoki we rehabilitate the animals with the aim to release them into their native habitat whether it is Sulawesi, Borneo or Java or any other place. Many of the animals cannot be released ever as it is either not safe for them or they wouldn´t survive as they have been at Tasikoki for too long and some behaviour cannot be tought by humans. For example our sun bears Binbin and Bonbon who have been here since they were little have never been taught the ablity to smell other bears territories and would probably get killed by other bears if they were released into the wild. The sense to smell cannot be taught by humans, only by their mother who they were separated from before they came to Tasikoki.

It is easier for humans to train primates to be released back into the wild as they are more alike humans and therefore many of our macaques are put into groups here and are studied by our animal behaviour specialist before we release them intothe wild.

The two male orangutans Is and Bento are native in Borneo and will probably be released to a semi orangutan sanctuary in Borneo eventually as they have been in Tasikoki very long and would probably not survive in the wild. Bento was confiscated a few years ago from a local family after a group of local school children visited Tasikoki. When the guide took them to show Is, one of the children said "Oh we have one of them at home and he use to watch television with us"! This led to confiscation and he is now with us! Bento and Is cannot live together as they rape each other and fight which leads to severe injuries. Also female volontaries they flirt with and if the women are old the flirting is not so intense and hence me they are not flirting with when I handle out browsing to them! The orangutans are very smart and extremely strong and powerful and we have to be careful what we give them. As a rule, nothing wider than two fingers can be put into their cage as they will try to use it to break out of the enclosure. They are very hard to please and as opposed to the macaques that get overly excited when you bring them treats, Bento and Is are cool and wont show any excitement as long as we are standing watching them. Fantastic animals!

Some primates such as the albino long tail macaque that we have here, will never be released into the wild as he would get killed due to looking very different from all other monkeys of his sort. He will probably be released on an island that Tasikoki now has taken over where  there are no predators or enemies that can kill him. Also some of our birds that have been wing clipped and  cannot fly long distances will be released onto this island.

The longest resident at Tasikoki is probably Betty who is a gibbon monkey native in Borneo. Betty gets easily stressed when there are a lot of people around and she doesn´t like male humans. She has (or all gibbons) a very loud sound and you hear her from you wake up at sunrise until the sun sets.

Langurs are primates native in Borneo and they have a very human looking face! I just love their expression! We have two ladies living with us.

The most dangerous animal we have is not the crocodile, it is the cassowary (swe: kasuar) and it is provvalet the closest we get to a dinosaur with its enormous claw like feet. It is extremely territorial and can run very fast. If you get close it will attack you and kick you with its sharp claws. They look fantastic with their colours though!

The fantastic thing is that I now, after a month here and meeting them daily, notice that they have very strong personalities that differs from animal to animal! Some we call mental freaks and some we call sweethearts! Just like the human world!

At Tasikoki there are some incredibly passionate, young people working with important agendas and for a really good cause and I think their message to the world is very up-to-date and important so here is a presentation of two talents I have the honor to work with:

The same foundation that runs Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue Centre is also running a turtle conservation area 1 hour from Tasikoki. Tasikoki staff is patrolling and monotoring the area 24/7.

The sea turtles come up on the beach normally in the beginning of the year to lay their eggs in the sand. They dig a hole and then covering them carefully with sand. After this she swims out in the sea again and never come back. The eggs are hatched after about 50-60 days when the small baby turtles by instinct move out to the sea to hopefully live a long life avoiding predators eating small turtles for breakfast!

Tasikoki staff overseas the activity and once a female has laid her eggs, our staff are digging them out of the sand to move them to a safe enclosure where no predators such as crabs, birds, lizards can dig them up and eat them.

We were so lucky to see some of the little ones take their first steps out of their eggs and into the sea as soon as the sun was set.

We also had a lesson from Tasikoki Education Officer Windi about sea turtles and I am amazed how tremendously big some of the species are with leatherback being the biggest of them all (natural size in pic below!). In Tasikoki we have fresh water turtles weighing about 35 kg.If you ever get the chance to witness turtles eggs being hatched, please take the opportunity as it is an fantastic experience.

One hour away from Tasikoki is Tangkoko national park. It is a nature reserve situated along the sea on green rolling hills. It is a flora and fauna conservation area with several species of animals, birds, flowers and plants. In the park you find a lot of animals in their natural habitat that we have here at Tasikoki. It was a fantastic experience to arrive right in the middle of a group macaques. They didn´t care about us and we could walk among them taking pictures. Many animals can only be found here in Sulawesi such as the cuscus which is a marsupial [swe: pungdjur]. They live high up in the trees and eat fresh, new leafes. We have 3 cuscus living in the centre and we spotted a wild one with a baby high up in the tree today. 

It was me and a local guide that did the trek. He spotted birds and animals very high up in the tree while it took me about 10 minutes before I saw anything that even looked like an animal. If it wasn´t for him I wouldn´t have seen anything!

Other species we spotted today was a beautiful hornbill, kingfisher bird and tarsiers which is a nocturnal and comes out from their trees where they hide and sleep daytime around 5-6 pm chasing insects.

Tasikoki has a cooperation with a macaque research team from a university in Manado that has a site in Tangkoko. I was told that they contact Tasikoki when monkeys have been caught in traps but managed to escape and ended up with strings of bands around their hands or feet. Naturally the monkey will start bite the string with the result that the string just tightens up even harder around the wrist or ankle. Our veterinary at the centre will assist in removing the strings.

Walking in the jungle is extremely hot but one need to wear appropriate clothes with long sleeves in order not to end up with strange bites. Insects are everywhere and believe me, you have never seen the ones flying or crawling around here. Sometimes big as a Volkswagen car. Today we had a snake in the tree next to the house where we live..... Welcome to Sulawesi! Strangely enough I am not freaking out everytime I meet something from Jurassic Park as I accept it is their territory and I am just visiting!