In a quiet corner of Punggur Kecil Village, Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan, cages are built not to keep birds in, but to teach them how to leave. Wak Gatak Conservation Center is Indonesia’s first rescue facility built specifically for Passeriformes — songbirds — and only the second of its kind in Southeast Asia.
Since opening in 2022, it has taken in around 60 birds, six of which have earned a recommendation for release. Run with the West Kalimantan BKSDA under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, alongside the Planet Indonesia Foundation, the center takes only victims of the illegal wildlife trade — confiscated, seized, or surrendered.
Recovery begins with up to 60 days of quarantine, where on-site veterinarian Dr. Happy Ferdiansyah screens for infection and logs each bird’s morphometrics: tarsus, bill, wing, tail. Birds that pass move into rehabilitation, typically 60 days, sometimes 90. Here, the work is almost the opposite of care. Caged birds lose flight stamina, forget how to forage, and grow tame around humans, it is dangerous in Indonesia, where tameness means easy prey for hunters. So they are flown farther in larger enclosures, and fed out of sight, at shifting spots, to rebuild instinct.
Only the ministry can authorize release. A semi-permanent habituation cage is built at the chosen site, and after one to two weeks, it simply opens. Monitoring follows for up to two weeks, usually by eye — these birds weigh just 30 to 70 grams, too light for most trackers — or by a simple metal leg ring.
Images and text: Dicky Bisinglasi
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