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!

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.