Orangutan months
from new home

Question: Are there new developments in trying to get the orangutan out of its cramped quarters in Honolulu Zoo? A colleague mentioned visiting the zoo recently and how depressed the creature appeared.

Answer: If things proceed smoothly, Rusti should be living in new quarters at least 10 times the size of his present home by next summer.

"We're getting close to getting a timetable," said Honolulu Zoo Director Ken Redman.

Dr. Birute Galdikas, the founder of Orangutan Foundation International, is expected to be here soon, if not this week, to help get the process moving.

The foundation has a local architect who is finishing the design of the new exhibit, Redman said. Once that's done, it's a matter of getting a permit, then putting the project out to bid.

"I believe we'll be making significant progress in the next week or two in terms of getting this thing out for a contract bid," Redman told us last week.

Even though Rusti's new home will be 10 to 15 times larger than his present enclosure, "It's not the quantity of space that's important, as (much) as the quality of space," he said.

"I'm not for a minute going to say that where he is is ideal; it's far from it. But just giving himself a much larger space in and of itself isn't going to do the trick. You've got to give him a stimulating environment."

It's not so much horizontal space that's critical, he said, because orangutans are "vertical, tree-dwelling animals. So we need to give him a lot of areas for him to crawl up in, which we will."

As for Rusti looking depressed, "He's an expert at looking sad," Redman maintained. The "extremely intelligent animal" that he is, Rusti apparently knows how to get attention.

"No. 1, people have to understand ... that a male orangutan in the wild is normally a solitary animal," Redman said. But people tend to look at Rusti and say, "He's sad, he's lonely, he doesn't have another orangutan."

However, "male orangutans like to be alone," Redman said.

According to the Honolulu Zoo Web site www.honoluluzoo.org/rusti_aloha.htm, Rusti is kept active and stimulated and is being trained to get into a moving crate in preparation for his big move.

Rusti had been abandoned by his parents, then rescued from what's been described as a substandard, private zoo on the mainland and given to Orangutan Foundation International.

When Rusti arrived at the Honolulu Zoo in 1997, it was supposed to be a temporary stay while the foundation looked for a permanent home. However, plans to move him to a place on the Big Island, then to Kualoa Ranch on Oahu, fell through.

Last month, the City Council approved building him a permanent home at the zoo, with the Orangutan Foundation, plus an unnamed local foundation, putting up $300,000.

In the coming weeks, the zoo will get a more accurate estimate of how much the new exhibit will cost, Redman said. The ballpark estimate now is $450,000. It's not yet certain how the extra money will be raised.

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