The construction of the Ellis Park wildlife sanctuary in Sumatra is progressing well following a positive response to donation call-outs.
Victorian-based co-founder Lorinda Jane (also the founder of the Palm Oil Investigations watchdog/consultancy) said the funding is half-way there for the facility designed for animals too handicapped or traumatised to be returned to the wild.
Fencing, solar panels and meeting facilities have been funded, with more donations required to complete enclosures, a clinic and a food storage room.
Ellis Park had an interesting genesis following the reunion of Jane, a former band booker, and multi-instrumentalist/composer Warren Ellis (Dirty Three, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds).
“Warren and I have known each other around 30 years, I hadn’t seen him since he moved to Paris a while ago and we caught up at a film launch,” Jane said.
“I told him what I was doing with Palm Oil Investigations and he said he would love to do something at some stage.
“We kept in contact via email and started talking about animals.”
Ellis informed Jane of his interest in establishing a wildlife sanctuary, and she felt confident about working on a project with Femke den Haas from Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN).
“I first came into contact with Femke when she messaged our Palm Oil Investigations page and said she’d like to get involved,” Jane said.
“Around 2015 we ended up funding a wildlife raid where Femke needed some funds to go in (for an animal rescue), and she and I have been connected ever since”.
After a meeting with den Haas, Ellis was informed there was 5000 sq m of land available next to her wildlife centre in South Sumatra that would be ideal for animals unsuitable for release back into the wild due to injury and mistreatment.
“Eventually my family and I were able to purchase and donate the land to JAAN,” Ellis said in a statement.
Jane said Ellis wanted to be hands-on with the project and had no interest in simply ‘dumping money’ into something.
“There are a lot of charities out there, and with a lot of the large charities a lot of the money goes into admin,” she said.
“With Femke there is a team of volunteers, and I knew it would be perfect.”
The process of building Ellis Park is being documented on its social media pages, which Jane believes fosters a feeling of connectedness with donors.
“It’s good to engage people and let them see what they’re doing,” she said.
Jane said the combination of den Haas, Ellis and herself has expanded the reach of the Park’s educational message.
“JAAN has a massive following of Indonesian supporters who really back what they’re doing, whereas myself and Warren, our following and feedback is mainly outside those areas,” she said.
“Warren’s got quite a large following, and of course the Bad Seeds have a large following, and it’s a completely different demographic of people.”
One message Ellis Park aims to communicate regards the plight of animals involved in the tourist trade, including dancing monkeys who are poached from the jungle and trained to stand on their hind legs.
“Basically, they have a noose put around their necks, and they’re hung so that their tippy toes are on the ground,” she said.
“Their hands are bound behind their backs and if they try to get down, they hang themselves.
“They’re kept like that for quite some time [and] they’re taught to dance, ride bikes, scooters; they are quite often beaten.”
One of the monkeys due to reside at Ellis Park is Baron, a former pet who was beaten over the head with an iron pole and now has brain damage.
A female sun bear named Balou will also make the facility her home.
Balou was poached from Sumatran jungle by a wildlife trader before being smuggled to Bali.
She was removed from her mother prior to weaning and was not able to learn the essential skills of the jungle necessary to survive a release into the wild.
“Sun bears have their canine teeth removed so tourists can have a photo with them,” Jane said.
“Tourism is a real issue, and a lot of that comes from Australians, people from the UK, people from Europe … tourists travel to places like Indonesia and think that it’s okay to have a photo with a bear, or think that it’s okay to feed a dancing monkey because it’s cute.
“Femke says ‘every single person that does these photo opportunities is contributing to the problem’; we’re hoping to educate people.”
Jane said she is pleased the work the Ellis Park team is doing is helping free-up den Haas to focus on animal rescue.
“It’s better when she doesn’t have to worry about fundraising, the Facebook, the Instagram,” she said.
“We’re taking that over from her so that she’s not overwhelmed, and she’s free to rescue, campaign and work with government.”
Once Ellis Park is complete, Jane and her team are looking towards a “couple of hectares” of land nearby as a possible home for retired elephants.
“They don’t know how to survive in the wild, and they’re absolutely broken,” she said.
“They need a lot of land, so that will be our next aim.”
Visit ellispark.org for more information and donation links.
SAM WORRAD