Orangutans and Gibbons on the Island Threatened by Hunters

The hunters’ threat to the island’s orangutans and gibbons exposes the cost of treating the island as a private refuge: people can arrive from the sea, hunt its inhabitants, and leave lasting harm behind. For Kensuke, the danger is personal as well as ecological. He sees the animals as his family and his responsibility, and the return of the hunters’ boat turns their protection into an urgent test of that bond.

Earlier attacks and Kensuke’s response

Kensuke recounts to Michael that, after the Americans had left the island, he lived there alone for many years. About a year before telling his story, he says, armed men came to hunt. He sang to the orangutans, which gathered in his cave and hid there; the hunters did not find them. In the forest, however, the men shot gibbons, killing mothers and taking their babies. The episode left Kensuke furious and fearful. He came to regard people as killers and resolved to avoid them, a conviction that helps explain why he initially rejects Michael’s presence and extinguishes his fire.

That history is not only a source of resentment. Kensuke has learned to live alongside the orangutans, observing what they eat and avoid, climbing as they do, and attending to their warning signals. He describes a gradual bond of trust that made him part of their community. The hunters’ violence therefore threatens animals with whom he has built a daily relationship, not an abstract population in the forest.

The returning boat

When a junk appears offshore, Michael hopes it may be a chance to signal for rescue. Kensuke studies it through binoculars and recognizes it as the same boat associated with the earlier hunt. He warns Michael that the men have returned and that they will kill gibbons and take the orangutans’ young. Rather than light a fire, the two set out to gather the animals and lead them to the cave, where Kensuke believes they will be safer.

Kensuke calls the orangutans by singing. They appear in small groups, and Michael helps bring them through the forest, carrying two younger animals when they lag behind. The gathering is incomplete: Kikanbo is still missing when they reach the cave. As the hunters approach, an outboard motor stops and men’s voices are heard. The first gunshots sound as Michael and Kensuke shelter the orangutans in the cave’s darkness. The animals huddle close; Kensuke comforts them by singing, while Michael stays with the younger ones and Stella remains beside him. Tomodachi is especially agitated, but all need reassurance as the shooting continues.

Loss, survival, and aftermath

The hunters eventually move away, and the men wait for hours before emerging. By then the junk is already far out to sea. They search the island and call for Kikanbo without finding him, while Kensuke is overcome with despair. They then discover the bodies of two dead mother gibbons and bury them at the edge of the forest. The deaths make clear that hiding the orangutans has not protected every animal: the raid has again reached the gibbons, even though the hunters’ boat has departed.

As Michael and Kensuke walk back along the beach, Kikanbo suddenly emerges from the trees, runs to Kensuke, and climbs around his neck. His return brings relief after the search and grief, but it does not undo the gibbons’ deaths. That night, the two sing “Ten Green Bottles” repeatedly over their fish soup. The song serves at once as a wake for the dead gibbons and a celebration that Kikanbo has survived.

A lasting duty of protection

In the following weeks, Kensuke broods over the raid and its consequences. He builds a stout bamboo cage at the back of the cave to shelter the orangutans more securely if the hunters return. He repeatedly thinks about what he should have done earlier and how unbearable it would have been if Kikanbo had been taken. He also wishes the gibbons would respond to his singing, so he might protect them too. Michael and Kensuke cut branches and brush and stack them outside the cave entrance, ready to conceal it.

The threat continues to shape their daily life after the immediate danger passes. Kensuke often sends Michael to the hilltop with binoculars to check whether the junk has returned. His anxiety gradually eases, but he remains wary. The raid thus changes the sanctuary’s routines: singing becomes both a way to gather and comfort the orangutans, while the hidden cave, bamboo enclosure, and repeated watches are practical defenses against a danger that may return.

Significance

The hunters’ violence contrasts with Kensuke’s patient knowledge of the animals and his commitment to their safety. His care is not limited to keeping the orangutans close; the deaths of the gibbon mothers trouble him precisely because he could not protect them. The attack also reveals the limits of the island’s isolation: the sea that surrounds it cannot guarantee peace, and a departing boat does not erase the possibility of another visit.

For Michael, helping gather and shelter the orangutans makes the danger something he shares with Kensuke rather than merely another obstacle to his own rescue. For Kensuke, the raid confirms the responsibility he already feels toward the animals and renews the vigilance that structures life on the island. Protection here is ongoing work—recognizing the threat, bringing the animals to shelter, mourning those lost, and preparing for the hunters’ possible return.