Ronnie, an adult female in her thirties, lives free in the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park. She has just given birth to her third offspring. In this protected area Ronnie has been lucky enough to become a grandmother. Her first born daughter, Riga has just given birth to Ronnie’s first grandchild. Dr. Biruté Galdikas will soon name both babies. Ronnie also has a son named Robert. The family travels through the treetops around Camp Leakey together.
The family regularly comes down from the trees to one of the feeding stations at Camp Leakey, which is maintained by the park rangers. Here, they can enjoy a treat of milk and bananas. The feedings are to supplement the diets of the excaptives and their offspring. Even in this “protected” area, illegal loggers are cutting down the orangutan’s food trees. Just three months ago, over 1000 of the trees in Tanjung Puting were illegal logged. Hopefully, with the new police patrols implemented by the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) and Dr. Biruté Galdikas, the illegal logging can be halted.
We need to do all we can to protect Ronnie and her family and all the others living in the rain forest.
