Narrative inquiry, creative nonfiction and two braided stories of the rehabilitation and release of orang-utans in Sebuyau, Sarawak

Abstract

The rehabilitation and release of captive orang-utans remains a contentious issue in the conservation of the endangered species. In the 1970s, three confiscated and captive-raised orang-utans were released at Sebuyau, Sarawak: using narrative inquiry as the research method, the researcher–writer tells the stories of two people instrumental in this experiment. Their stories tell of personal experience working with the rescued animals and the consequences of well-meaning but ill-fated human actions. In this creative nonfiction work, the voices of the wildlife officer, forest guard and researcher–writer take the reader through a gamut of emotions: wonder, compassion, frustration and sorrow. This writing is part of the researcher–writer’s postgraduate work using creative nonfiction to tell the stories of men and women working to conserve the orang-utan over a span of fifty years in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.