Buy an Ultrasound Machine for the SOCP Quarantine Centre

The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme's Quarantine Centre in Northern Sumatra receives Orangutans that have been in conflict with humans. The future for those rescued Orangutans that can be rehabilitated is bright as the SOCP has a safe release site in Northern Sumatra where these animals are returned to the wild. Those that cannot be released due to their injuries are given the best possible quality of life in captivity, and to this end an island sanctuary is being built near Medan.The Centre receives many animals in some pretty seriously compromised health situations. I was recently in Sumatra delivering a much needed digital X-ray system to the Quarantine Centre. This is very useful in the diagnosis of broken bones and gunshot injuries and also to assess lung health. During the week I was there doing the installation training we did work ups on 6 animals, ranging from extreme trauma on an adult male who had just been admitted to the Centre, to a pre-release lung X-ray on a large male who was being returned to the wild. Our last patient was Seroja, the beautiful female pictured above. She presented with a large mass in her tummy and being generally unwell. This was very unfortunate for her as she was due to be released back into the wild. The range of investigations available on the digital X-ray system was performed with no definitive diagnosis. No Ultrasound is available at the Quarantine and so Seroja faces a very uncertain future.

It was distressing for me to leave the Centre having helped in one area only to see the desperate need for other equipment which would help.

What the Quarantine Centre needs is an Ultrasound scanner. A simple black and white scanner would be of some help but a more advanced colour Doppler machine would be of more help; not only to identify growths such as Seroja has, but also to identify trauma and internal bleeding which can come from the brutal injuries some of these animals suffer before they get to the Centre.