December, 2 2015
Albin is an orangutan after my own heart, one who possesses a very adventurous spirit. A self-assured young juvenile orangutan, he is beginning to showcase his independence. My first intimate interaction with Albin occurred one day during daily release. I was standing, observing when I suddenly felt a foot touch my shoulder. I looked up…
Read MoreNovember, 3 2015
Abraham is a very calm and serious orangutan. His demeanor is contemplative and slow. His movements are purposeful, deliberate, and quiet. He is small for an orangutan his age. However, thanks to our special caregiver and veterinary teams at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) in Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia, Abraham has been steadily growing…
Read MoreSeptember, 29 2015
All orangutans are special but sometimes some are just slightly more special than others in that you remember them better. They stand out. They catch your eye and suddenly you can’t stop observing them. This happened to me with Piko, a male juvenile orangutan at the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine…
Read MoreSeptember, 7 2015
The sun shines fiercely as I stand in the forest, head craned towards the treetops. Moments before I had an orangutan in my sights but now she has seemingly disappeared. I know she has gone in the direction where I am looking, but I seem to have lost track of her. High in the canopy,…
Read MoreAugust, 7 2015
There are over three hundred orangutans at the Orangutan Foundation International’s Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) in Pasir Panjang, Kalimantan, Indonesia. When it’s time to choose an orangutan to profile each month for OFI’s website, narrowing it down to just one can be overwhelming! Each and every orphan orangutan, big or small, is charismatic in…
Read MoreJuly, 3 2015
Out of all the orangutans I met during my stay at the Care Center, none surprised me quite as much as ESRI did. With her long, tapered face and somewhat crossed eyes, ESRI’s appearance is sweetly demure, yet she was one of the first orangutans to test me as a new OFI volunteer. In my first…
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