Category: Stories

Tommy: a little orphan with a big heart

Doing conservation work can be exciting but also challenging and sometimes disheartening due to the hard odds arrayed against protecting habitat and animals in the wild. As a volunteer and fundraiser for OFI, I am inspired by and find a source of strength from the many young orphan orangutans I work with at OFI’s Orangutan… Continue reading Tommy: a little orphan with a big heart

Cute Faces, Dark Realities (Part 2)

The Threat of Illegal Capture Most people who read this website are probably aware of how dire the situation facing wild gibbons like Auri and other primates is, but I’ll remind you anyway. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), nearly half of all primate species – including apes, monkeys, and big-eyed… Continue reading Cute Faces, Dark Realities (Part 2)

Cute Faces, Dark Realities (Part 1)

Look at these photos of infant orangutans. What are the first thoughts that come into your head? My guess is that your reaction is something like, “So cute!” or “I want to cuddle them!” Maybe you’re even thinking, “I want one!” Unfortunately, the charms that orangutans and other primates possess push too many people to… Continue reading Cute Faces, Dark Realities (Part 1)

Orangutan of the Month: Mighty Montana

Montana

Mighty Montana The Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) in Borneo is a temporary home to hundreds of young orphaned orangutans building up the skills and confidence they need to be released back into the wild. But the OCCQ is home to a small handful of fully-grown adult male orangutans as well. One of these… Continue reading Orangutan of the Month: Mighty Montana

A Second Chance at a Wild Life

Jade on the morning of her release.

A tangible sense of excitement sets in at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) in the days leading up to orangutans being permanently released back into the wild. OCCQ staff start cleaning and preparing transport cages, veterinarians do the final medical check-ups on the orangutans slated to be released, and caregivers spend some last… Continue reading A Second Chance at a Wild Life

The Joy of Freedom

On December 11, 2012 about one hundred people gathered at an isolated Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) forest camp at the edge of Tanjung Puting National Park in the province of Kalimantan Tengah (Central Indonesian Borneo) to release five wild born ex-captive adolescent male orangutans into the wild. The release occurred under the auspices of the “Friends of Orangutans” program initiated by OFI and P.T. Smart, an Indonesian company concerned with conservation.

Orangutan of the Month: Quirky Rangda

n many ways, Rangda (pronounced “wrong-duh”) is much like the rest of the infant orangutans at OFI’s Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ); he loves climbing trees, playing with his friends, and eating fruit. But within these preferences, Rangda finds little ways to break the norms of behavior. His unique climbing habits and particular affinity for mud are just a few of the ways he makes himself stand out. here is a noticeable contrast between Rangda’s behaviors when he is exploring on the ground

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In many ways, Rangda (pronounced “wrong-duh”) is much like the rest of the infant orangutans at OFI’s Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ); he loves climbing trees, playing with his friends, and eating fruit. But within these preferences, Rangda finds little ways to break the norms of behavior. His unique climbing habits and particular affinity for mud are just a few of the ways he makes himself stand out.

Rangda is exploring the ground
Rangda climbing tree

There is a noticeable contrast between Rangda’s behaviors when he is exploring on the ground as compared to when he is climbing in the trees. On the forest floor, Rangda’s movements are quite delicate. He walks slowly and deliberately, and when he finds a leaf or flower to eat, he pulls it apart very carefully. But when Rangda is high up in the trees – where acting rashly could result in serious consequences – he throws caution to the wind! Even when I can’t actually see Rangda, I can hear branches cracking and leaves tearing from his general direction. One of his favorite maneuvers is to climb high to the tops of thin, dead, branchless trees, where he can build up the momentum to swing the whole tree into a neighboring tree. But while some of his friends can pull off this trick gracefully by sweeping the thin trees around in broad circles, Rangda’s method involves a lot of erratic flailing. He throws an arm out clumsily in one direction, which usually sways the tree just enough for him to grab on to the ends of the leaves in a neighboring tree, but not much further. Often his technique is so poor that he never succeeds in transferring to another tree, but perhaps that is not even his intent. Rangda’s funny way of climbing may just be an expression of his carefree nature. He can wait until he gets older to be concerned about more practical pursuits (like finding fruit) while he is in the trees.

Rangda (back turned) relaxing in seclusion with his friend Voyce
Rangda (back turned) relaxing in seclusion with his friend Voyce.

Rangda’s climbing is made even more complicated by his tendency to multitask. Instead of resting for a moment when he finds a nice bunch of edibles, he stuffs it all in his mouth – whether it’s little green seeds or whole pineapple halves – and munches on it as he climbs along. Rangda also prefers to play with his friends up in the trees rather than on the ground, where wrestling would be less risky. His favorite climbing buddy is Voyce, and the two can often be seen tangled up in a mass of vines, wrestling and playfully biting each other. I once saw Rangda get pushed out of the vines during one of these wrestling bouts. He crashed down into a heap of sticks on the forest floor, lay there for a moment (perhaps regaining his pride), and scrambled right back up the vines to continue the game!

Rangda and Voyce, playing and climbing tree

Many of the young orangutans enjoy playing in little pools of muddy water that they happen across on the forest floor, but none love it quite so much as Rangda. Sometimes Rangda displays his normal ground-dwelling delicacy when he investigates a puddle. If he just wants a drink of the water, he will spread all four limbs out wide along the edge of the pool, balancing along its border, and then stick his face way out until he can just barely stick his lips into the water. But other times Rangda forgets about any desire to stay clean. I once watched as he sat beside a muddy pool, doing what I can only describe as making “mud soup.” He tore leaves off of the surrounding vegetation to throw into the pool and splashed it around with his hands. He then added some twigs and took a sip of his muddy concoction, just like a chef test-tasting a meal. Apparently dissatisfied, Rangda threw in more leaves, blew some bubbles in the water, stamped around in it with his feet, and then took another sip. Sometimes he would make his additions or stamp through his soup at a leisurely pace, and other times he did so quite vigorously. He kept with this activity for a good twenty minutes, displaying more dedication to one task than you usually see in orangutans his age or older! In the end, he seemed to decide that no matter what you add to it and how you mix it, muddy water just does not taste good.

Rangda drinking from pool of water
Rangda sitting beside from pool of water

  

Rangda swinging on branch

Rangda is not one of the more attention-seeking orangutans at the OCCQ, but if you make a deliberate effort to spend time with him, you can quickly pick up on his unique antics and characteristics. When you do, you find that he is quite a special little orangutan, full of endearing quirks!

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