Orangutan Stories: Timtom’s Beautiful Hair

Every orangutan has a distinct personality and unique physical characteristics that differentiate one to another. Their body size, facial features, and special characteristics are a few of the ways that the field staff use to identify orangutans in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve - Timtom is known for her beautiful hair.

At around 8-years-old, female orangutan Timtom’s red hair is so glossy it could be used as an advertisement for hair colour. Her long, shiny, healthy hair is due to good nutrition and little experience of stress factors. Good nutrition improves her health and growth.

Timtom likes to forage the trees and play around, especially splashing in the water on the riverbank. Even though orangutans her age usually live independently, Timtom still has not met the necessary skills needed to be released back into the wild, and needs more time to master these, particularly nest-building. These shortcomings in forest skills and behaviour are due to the time she spent in captivity as an illegal pet. Keeping an orangutan as a pet in the early stages of their life can change their natural behaviour, and it takes a long time for an ex-captive orangutan to master their forest skills.

Timtom was rescued at only 9-months-old, and needed a human carer as she was too used to human presence. However, as soon as she was on a tree, her climbing skills were instinctive. The older she got, the more orangutans she interacted with and learnt from. Not an easy journey to freedom but progress is being made, step by step.

At Camp Buluh, camp staff routinely take Timtom to practice in the forest across the river, where she stays overnight. When brought to the forest, she plays on the riverbank before entering the trees. She swings confidently through the canopy, explores the forest, forages for food, and then plays again. Timtom still has not attempted to build a nest, so she sleeps on a tree branch, or if she finds an old nest left by another orangutan, she will sleep in there instead.

According to the veterinary team, Timtom is in good health. It is always interesting to see how young orangutans progress on their soft-release journey. We hope Timtom will continue to make good progress and can return to the wild soon.

Orangutan Stories: Poor Logos is Recovering

Unusual news came from Camp JL in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Infant Logos received an injury to his left forefinger due to an animal bite. Camp staff are currently unsure which orangutan bit him and how it occurred. As usual, Logos was actively playing in the camp yard and appeared to be in good health until February 1st when he returned to his enclosure.

When the camp staff came to give Logos his milk, they realised that Logos’ left forefinger was injured, but they had not heard Logos crying or showing any signs of unusual behaviour. Camp staff reported Logos' condition to the Reintroduction Manager and veterinarians so he could receive medical attention as soon as possible.

Dr. Dimas examining Logos’ finger.

Dr. Dimas asked the camp staff to maintain cleanliness in Logos' enclosure, ensuring it remained dry and leftover fruit and faeces were promptly removed to prevent any infection. Dr. Dimas then directed them to clean Logos’ wound with antiseptic fluid twice a day and administer antibiotics. Logos was then moved into a box for intensive care so he could be easily monitored.

The next day Dr. Wawan came to check on Logos. He was in good condition, with no fever and was not lethargic. Dr. Wawan advised that Logos needed pain relief and medication for the next ten days.

We still cannot be certain what caused his injury. The camp staff reported that Logos was playing normally outside in the nearby forest, but they did notice Mores, a female ex-captive, near Logos’ when she visited the camp. They think that Mores may have unintentionally bitten Logos’ finger, perhaps when trying to eat some of his fruit. All our soft-release residents are monitored, but it is sometimes difficult to notice any brief interactions if they are high up in the tree.

In early February, Dr. Dimas came for the routine soft-release monthly health check. Logos was still in the intensive care box and was not allowed to venture into the yard until his wound dried. He was licking his wound, but the Reintroduction Manager reassured that it was not an issue, and it could help it to heal quicker.

When checking his pulse and respiration, the results were normal, but Logos’ body temperature was quite high at 39 degrees Celsius. Additionally, he seemed to have a lack of appetite as he did not want to eat the fruit provided. He did then eat umbut, drank milk, and camp staff gave him electrolyte fluid orally to keep him hydrated, as well as honeydew after being recommended by the Reintroduction Manager.

The latest update from Camp JL is that Logos’ condition has improved. His wound has dried, his body temperature and appetite are back to normal, but he is still licking his wound and receiving antiseptic fluids. Logos needs to take a rest from his training in the camp yard whilst he fully recovers, but hopefully he will be back playing in no time.

We are all wishing Logos a fast recovery! We cannot wait to see him playing once again!

Orangutan Stories: Sheila and Silva

January’s orangutan story is about wild Sheila and Silva, a mother and infant around Camp Gemini in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.

Sheila was released into the wild nineteen years ago and has since given birth to four infants. Silva, her latest son, was born on World Environment Day in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and was named Silva after it, representing forest.

Sheila and Silva hanging from the rainforest trees.

Infant orangutans born in the wild will stay with their mothers until around the age of seven years old. Two year old Silva still has a long way to go before living independently in the forest. Wherever Sheila goes, Silva will always be by her side.

Although Silva continues to gain knowledge from Sheila, he is becoming a brave orangutan. At his age, Silva has begun creating space from his mother. Camp staff have noticed that Silva often plays with Maya’s son, Milo, as well as his older brother Sony. It also appears that Silva is becoming good at choosing fruit provided at the feeding side.

Being protective of Silva, when Sheila encounters Max, another female orangutan, and Macho, Maya’s son, she always tries to chase them away. Maya, on the other hand, keeps her distance from Sheila.

We are happy to see Silva progress and hope he will continue to grow well. With mother Sheila’s teachings and big brother Sony's influence, Silva has excellent mentors to learn from in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. 

A look back at the success of 2023 for the Orangutan Foundation

As we bring in the new year, we have been truly humbled to reflect on the incredible impact you, our supporters, have helped the Orangutan Foundation achieve in 2023.


FOR ORANGUTANS

Last year we welcomed two wild orangutan births in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve: Arul (son of Acuy) and Jojo (son of Jonson). Both are second generation offspring, with Arul being Acuy’s third infant and second son. Acuy sits at the head of three generations of orangutans born into the Reserve, with her first infant Amina now a mother to Albie. The suspected father of Arul is a wild male named Tole who was spotted spending time with Acuy in October 2022, which lines up with the eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy and birth in July.

Also in July, Jonson, who was released from our soft-release programme in 2012, gave birth to infant Jojo, marking the 111th recorded wild birth in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve since it was created! This success highlights how important protected habitats are for this species, giving them the space, safety, and resources to thrive and for the population to grow.

Endut graduated from our soft-release programme back in January when he decided to take matters into his own hands and take himself off into the forest! Our reintroduction team were preparing for his release, as he had mastered all the necessary forest skills for an independent life in the wild, so his departure occurred at an appropriate time. However, in March, BKSDA and the OF team were called out to a rescue in the north of Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and found it was Endut who strayed into an oil palm plantation. He had lost some weight but was in good health. He was then taken to Camp JL to a new area of rainforest where he was less likely to run off while the field staff monitored him. In June, he was re-released back into the wild with Ashley Leiman OBE and the Head of BKSDA present to witness the event.

One rescue this year led to a new member of the soft-release programme at Camp JL. Three-year-old Logos was rescued after being kept illegally and has since been thriving and developing his skills, from climbing to eating Ubar fruits. He even plays around with fellow campmate Mona. Logos gets more confident in the trees every day and his personality is starting to shine through.

Over the year we carried out nine orangutan rescues and releases. Most rescues occurred in community land and oil palm plantations. All the orangutans passed the medical examinations and were healthy enough to be translocated back into the wild.

Additionally, Bella the sun bear, who was rescued in November 2022 from a poacher’s trap, had some time to recover and the decision was made for her to continue her recovery in the wild, leading to her release in January 2023. Five gibbons were also rescued after being kept as illegal pets, with many displaying health issues from captivity. Moby the gibbon was the only one healthy enough to be released, Endul and Hepato are being cared for at Camp Siswoyo, Kumpai sadly passed away from an infection caused by injuries on arrival, and Boby escaped after an orangutan opened their enclosure to steal food!


FOR FORESTS

With your donations, you have helped us protect 9246 acres of rainforest habitat! A huge thank you! Tanjung Puting National Park and Lamandau Wildlife Reserve combined cover over half a million acres of prime habitat supporting close to 5,000 orangutans. Donations towards our habitat protection programme has allowed these areas to continue to be protected through forest and river patrols to deter illegal activity, including logging and mining; maintaining fire-fighting equipment at our guard posts to allow field staff to rapidly respond to forest fires; and supporting our sapling nurseries to replant and restore degraded forest.

A total of 55,500 saplings were planted over 40 hectares (or 74 football pitches worth of space)! This exceeded our ambitious target of planting out 36,000 saplings in 2023. Our seedling nursery site at Vigilant Howe Guard Post had an extension funded by Explorers Against Extinction, which doubled its seedling capacity to 28,000 seedlings. We are very grateful for the support as this helped us exceed our target. By helping the rainforest to regenerate in degraded areas, we are increasing vital orangutan forest habitat and restoring a healthy ecosystem for flora and fauna species to thrive.

Research

Staff from the Orangutan Foundation at Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research station together with Tanjung Putting National Park staff conducted two surveys. The findings on proboscis monkeys, endemic to Borneo, confirm they have a healthy population of 973 individuals along the Sekonyer River. The results of the survey on the tomistoma freshwater crocodile, which is classified as Vulnerable, found a healthy population on the Sekonyer River as well.

The tarsier is a small, nocturnal primate that is notoriously difficult to spot, but our staff on their regular nightly searches have been able to identify a number of individuals and these findings led to Yoga, our Research Manager, giving a presentation on tarsiers at the International Primate Society (IPS) symposium in Kuching.

Our camera traps continue to make exciting discoveries!


FOR PEOPLE

Community Engagement

In Indonesian Borneo, our team continues to build engagement and relationships with local communities with a range of outreach events to highlight the work of OF and how people can get involved.

A key focus of many of the events was enabling the participation of high school students through a series of educational and public awareness activities. They took part in the Conservation Camp; Indonesian Tree Planting Day; International Orangutan Day; and Orangutan Caring Week activities, such as a street campaign, jungle visit and trek from Camp Siswoyo to Camp Gemini, and painting conservation themed t-shirts at school visits. Orangutan Caring Week also involved an orangutan colouring competition to include kindergarten students.

By involving and connecting with the next generation through these outreach activities, it has increased the local community’s awareness of orangutans and why they and their habitat need protecting.  

From October to December, together with BKSDA we also held stakeholder meetings on human-orangutan conflict mitigation in three local villages. These workshops included visiting residents’ homes and talks to the entire village community to increase awareness. Additionally, posters of orangutans highlighted as a protected species were placed around markets, and leaflets were distributed to each village containing advice on the prohibition of keeping, capturing, and trading of orangutans; steps to handle and avoid conflicts with them; and to contact BKSDA if they saw orangutans in local areas. Residents of each village seemed enthusiastic when engaging with several questions and the team received information that residents had previously found an orangutan near their garden, and it was successfully rescued and handed over by BKSDA to be translocated into their forest habitat. It is encouraging to see local communities understand and help return orangutans back to their natural home.

Fundraising

With your generous donations, you have enabled us to exceed both our target goals for the Green Match Fund, to support our Habitat Protection and Reforestation programmes which are actively working to regenerate lost habitat and protect current rainforest habitat, and the Big Give Christmas Challenge, to support sustainable livelihood programmes. You, our supporters, are the reason we excelled our targets, and we are incredibly grateful for your generosity – thank you!


To all our donors and supporters, we thank you. You are the reason we are able to carry out our critical work protecting orangutans and their forest habitat. You are helping to provide a future for orangutans, forests, and people. We are looking forward to what 2024 has in store with a positive outlook and we cannot wait to share our news with you!

Orangutan Stories: Queen

In January of this year, our vets were called to Camp Buluh in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve to treat Queen after she had suffered a crocodile attack. She and her son Quentin were noticeably missing around camp after the new year but were eventually sighted and the team discovered that Queen had a large wound on her lower back.

Queen was often seen wading along the edge of Buluh River. It’s likely that the attack happened there.

To inspect the wound more closely, Queen was sedated and during the examination, four holes were found which resembled the bite of a crocodile. They were stitched up and Queen was moved to a holding cage at Camp Buluh to allow the team to monitor her recovery.

She wasn’t the easiest patient to look after. Too much curiosity and movement meant that she opened her stitches a few times, requiring repeat visits from our vets to clean and patch them up again. Over time it became clear that one of the holes was not healing as fast as the others, however, Queen’s appetite and behaviour remained active and as you would expect from a healthy orangutan which was a promising sign.

Eventually the decision was made to do surgery on her and attempt to stitch the hole up closer to the colon. With Dimas and Wawan working in parallel and aided by two camp staff, Queen was in and out of surgery quickly. Unfortunately, they couldn’t complete the operation as hoped and decided to keep Queen at camp for longer to see if the wound would heal by itself.

Queen’s son Quentin remained by her side throughout her recovery. It was a tough experience for the young orangutan who, as a wild born orangutan, is not used to being confined to a small enclosure or having so many people around. Anytime he and Queen had to be separated both mother and son became distressed and so the team tried to avoid that as much as possible.

Finally in June, Queen was given the all clear to return to the wild. She and Quentin were released near Camp Buluh and we are pleased that they have remained close since, allowing camp staff to continue monitoring her.

Despite what was likely a traumatic attack, and a long recovery, Queen and Quentin are thriving once more in the protected Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. It’s thanks to your support that we are able to respond in emergency situations like these and provide the dedicated care that orangutans need. Every orangutan life is precious, and we are grateful that we could protect Queen’s.


A monthly donation of £50 a month can cover both our vet’s salaries for an entire month, please consider supporting their vital work!

Orangutan Stories: Labetty & Leon

Orangutans have been recorded eating over 400 different types of food, which means for mothers, the job of introducing their offspring to all the different food groups is a rather large task. Until they start to forage entirely for themselves, infant orangutans depend on their mother’s milk to sustain them. As they grow older their mother will have them try the fruits and leaves that she browses on, showing them what is good to eat and where to find it. Then at the ages of around 3 and 4, the young orangutans will start to try foraging under the watchful eye of their mother.

In Camp Rasak in the Lamdandau Wildlife Reserve mother and son, Labetty and Leon, are beginning the next step in Leon’s development with independent foraging. Labetty was born in the wild to Lady Di, an orangutan who was released in the Reserve back in February 2006. Now aged 13, Labetty is mother to Leon, who will be turning 3 years old in July this year.

Labetty and Leon snacking on some papaya.

Labetty has been active in showing her son how to forage in the forest. She slowly browses the branches around her for leaves while Leon watches closely, usually in a piggyback position with his arms around his mother’s neck. Our camp staff have observed him starting to imitate his mother’s foraging behaviours. While still clinging to his mother with one hand, the young ape stretches his free arm out to pull leaves off branches, just like his mother.

The pair are frequent visitors to Camp Rasak, which is one of our soft-release camps in the reserve and the release site of Labetty’s mother, Lady Di. They are often seen by camp staff moving to and from camp and the feeding platform in the forest, travelling along the boardwalk between the two sites.

At the feeding site, where we are able to closely observe visiting orangutans’ behaviour and development, our staff have even seen Leon snatching Labetty’s food out of her hands and tasting it himself. It’s hard to keep anything for yourself when you have another pair of eyes watching everything you do!

Labetty has been an example mother to her first-born son. She has shown patience as a teacher in the ways of the rainforest and strength as a protector for her infant. Leon is in good hands, and we can’t wait to see how he continues to progress.

Support orangutan conservation and keep your toes warm!

We have had the pleasure of partnering with Bare Kind since 2020 – an independent business saving animals with socks.

Bare Kind was founded in 2018 to give back to the world by making bamboo socks that donate to charity, allowing individuals to be a part of something impactful with every purchase. Their FSC certified socks host a whole range of animal designs and 10% of profits from their orangutan socks are donated to the Foundation every year.

Protecting biodiversity is extremely important in our fight against climate change. Different species play key roles in maintaining the health and stability of their respective ecosystems – which is why Bare Kind have chosen the orangutan to feature on their socks, as they are integral to sustaining Indonesia’s rainforests.

Last year their support helped fund the protection of 464 acres of tropical forest with the Foundation for a year. As you know, our habitat protection programme is vital for ensuring a safe future for orangutans and all other species that depend on rainforest habitat, as well as safeguarding the carbon stores sequestered within these ecosystems.

If you like the look of their socks, we have good news for you! The team at Bare Kind have kindly provided us with a discount code for our supporters. Just type in the discount code “CHARITY10” at the checkout for 10% off your order. Please note that the discount code is limited to one use per customer. 

To find out more about Bare Kind and how they make their socks, please visit their website.

Orangutan Stories: Timtom

Sometimes the orphaned orangutans that we care for in our soft-release programme need extra encouragement to practice the skills they need for an independent life in the wild. Timtom is one such orangutan. Before we can release her from our care, we need to make sure that she has mastered climbing, foraging, and nest-building. However, Timtom has shown little interest in the latter. Instead, she prefers to find comfortable branches to sleep on when she spends nights sleeping in the rainforest.

Timtom has been with us for 7 years now, having joined our soft-release programme at Camp JL in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve in 2016. She has proven to be quite the character around camp and her playful nature provides a continuous source of amusement for our staff.

Her favourite activity is to play in puddles and mud pits, which involves spending a lot of time on the ground - an unusual trait in an orangutan as an arboreal species. She will often soak herself with water and cover herself in mud, meaning that it is rare to see a photo or video from the field of Timtom clean and dry.

In January of this year, our Reintroduction Manager, Azhari, and the team who have been caring for Timtom at Camp JL decided to move her to Camp Buluh, which is often submerged in water. The team hoped that she might spend more time in the trees than on the ground playing and begin practicing her nest building skills.

Timtom joined Sinta, the youngest orangutan in our soft-release programme, at Camp Buluh and the pair are becoming fast friends. When they are taken out into the rainforest each day, they will spend most of their time playing with each other. Timtom has been climbing more, however, the temptation to play in the pools of water often brings her down to the ground which wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for. Sinta also doesn’t like to miss out on the fun, and one of our vets, Wawan, got some great shots of the pair playing and splashing together. 

Living in Camp Buluh means a lot of travel by canoe, particularly because Timtom and Sinta have stripped the trees of leaves in the camp and so they need to be taken across the river to access the lush forest on the other side. Staff at the camp spent the first few weeks of Timtom’s arrival practicing crossings of the river with her, which was a completely new experience for the young ape. She showed some fear the first few times but is slowly becoming used to travelling on the water.

So far, there has still been no development in Timtom’s nest building skills and sleeping on branches won’t do when she is living independently in the wild. We’ve got more work to do with Timtom to get her ready. Although we’re sure everyone will agree, her cheeky personality will be missed around camp when the time finally comes for her release.

Orangutan Stories: Ariel

Around the age of seven or eight, young orangutans will leave their mothers to lead an independent life in the rainforest. This time is nearing for Ariel, an orangutan born in the wild to Acuy, who was released in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve by the Orangutan Foundation in 2006.

For the first few years of his life, Acuy has shown Ariel how to climb, where and when to find food in the rainforest and how to build strong nests high up in the trees. She has been an attentive mother, both to Ariel and her first offspring Amina. Often the team see Ariel enjoying grooming from his mother – unusual behaviour in orangutans.

Photos of Ariel growing up alongside his mother Acuy

The bond between these two has always been apparent. When Acuy visits Camp Rasak in the Reserve, you can be sure that Ariel isn’t far away. However, recently he appears to be more comfortable venturing off on his own – a sure sign that he is preparing to move out and join the other males in the rainforest.

Ariel’s newfound independence couldn’t come at a better time as his mother Acuy is pregnant with her third infant! The news about her pregnancy came after staff spotted Acuy with swollen genitals, a typical indicator of pregnancy in orangutans. One of the Foundation’s vets, Wawan, visited Camp Rasak and confirmed that Acuy is indeed pregnant, estimating that she is around 3 and a half months along. We think that Tole, a wild male, may be the father. The pair were noticed spending a lot of time together in November last year.

Acuy now sits at the head of three generations of orangutans born in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Her first infant, Amina, is now 15 and has an infant of her own called Albie. With her newest addition, Acuy will add a fourth name onto her family tree – a testament to the safe lives orangutans can lead when released into safe and protected habitat.

Ariel exploring the rainforest on his own.

While Acuy won’t give birth for around another 5 months or so, Ariel is sure to fly the nest soon and make way for his new brother or sister. Whether he moves out on his own terms or requires a nudge from his mother, we can’t wait to see what adventures Ariel has in the rainforest once he is living solo in the wild!

Reflecting on the achievements of 2022 for the Orangutan Foundation

As we bring in the new year, we have been truly humbled to reflect on the incredible impact that you, our supporters, have helped the Orangutan Foundation achieve in 2022. It was hard to fit it all in!


FOR Orangutans

Last year saw us welcome the births of three new orangutans in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Mely (daughter of Max), Besti (daughter of Berline) and Sunar (son of Sakura) all joined the growing population of orangutans in the Reserve. Both Besti and Sunar are the third generations of their families since we started monitoring and recording the orangutan populations in Lamandau. Their success is a true testament to how important protected habitats are for this species, giving them the room and resources to thrive in safety. We also announced the promising signs of pregnancy in Acuy at the end of 2022 and we look forward to sharing more positive updates in the coming months.

Satria and Nyunyu were released from our soft-release programme last year. Both Satria and Nyunyu joined us in 2017 after they were rescued from life as pets. Satria can’t resist coming back to camp every so often for playdates with Endut and Ariel and his mischievous streak doesn’t seem to have diminished. Nyunyu quickly took to life in the wild, we haven’t seen much of her since her release, but our team caught sight of her making her way deeper into the rainforest, exploring her new home.

Over the year we also released three rescued orangutans: Batuah and Hasma & Hasan. After medical examinations and an operation for Batuah to clean bullet wounds he had suffered, all of the orangutans were healthy enough to be released back into the wild.

We opened a new wildlife clinic with BKSDA. This provides a lifeline for all rescued animals that have been discovered injured in the wild or in need of treatment after a life in captivity, including Bella the Sun bear. She is still being treated for her wounds from the poacher’s trap we found her in - her wild nature is making her recovery take longer than initially expected. Understandably it’s hard for her to relax in what is a completely unnatural environment to her. Our team will continue to monitor her and administer treatment until she is ready to be returned to the wild. 

In Sumatra, we partnered with local NGO Scorpion Foundation to help save the rarest great ape – the Tapanuli orangutan. The Tapanuli orangutan was only confirmed as its own species in 2017 and there are only about 800 individuals left in the wild. Their preservation is crucial with such dwindling population numbers and we’re proud to have partnered with an organisation that are working on the frontline to protect these orangutans.


For Forests

You have helped us safeguard 6310 acres of rainforest - prime orangutan habitat. Truly incredible! Our habitat protection programme in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve and Tanjung Putting National Park involves carrying out forest and river patrols to deter illegal activity, including logging and mining, responding to burning forest fires and managing our sapling nurseries to replant and restore degraded forest.

Speaking of saplings, we planted 51,000 trees in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve in 2022, covering an area of 30 hectares (or 74 football pitches worth of space). By helping the rainforest to reestablish in degraded areas, we’re regenerating crucial forest habitats, providing flora and fauna species with security for the future.


For people

We continued to build relationships with local communities in Indonesian Borneo and our engagement team were able to host a whole range of events with your support. We welcomed high school students to a Conservation Camp; an overnight Jungle Visit; and to Indonesian Tree Planting Day in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. These events give us the wonderful opportunity to connect with the next generation of nature’s caretakers and raise awareness on the role of communities in preserving orangutans and their habitat with local communities.

We also hosted a biodiversity workshop for staff of logging and oil-palm concessions (companies who have permits to log or grow plantations). The two-day workshop gave the landowners practical tools and knowledge they need to be monitor biodiversity on their land and a chance to understand the importance of preserving orangutans and local wildlife. Eighty percent of orangutans live outside of protected areas and so it is key that we continue to engage relevant stakeholders in order to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

The Foundation finally hosted our 30 Years of Conservation to Borneo and Sumatra after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a wonderful opportunity to share our work with supporters and were grateful to Regina Frey (founder of PanEco) and Dr Ian Singleton OBE (Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme) for accompanying us.

With your generosity we raised more than our targets for the Big Green Give to restore Borneo’s rainforest, helping us to grow the next generation of rainforest and keep orangutan habitat standing, and the Christmas Big Give 2022 Appeal to help the 80% of orangutans who live outside of protected areas. You helped us smash past these ambitious targets and we are so incredibly grateful!


To all of our supporters, we thank you. You are helping to provide a future for orangutans, forests and people. We’re looking forward to 2023 with positivity and we can’t wait to share our news with you!

Orangutan Stories: Hasna & Hasan

In November, we celebrated Orangutan Caring Week – an annual event that is recognized around the world. The week highlights the plight of the orangutan and acknowledges the issues which impact their ability to survive in the wild, such as habitat loss. Behind the celebrations and campaigns showing the crucial work being done to save this species, are the orangutans who have lost their homes. Their habitats continue to get smaller and more fragmented, resulting in increased conflict with people.

Just one week after the celebrations of Orangutan Caring Week this year, the Orangutan Foundation team together with BKSDA were called to a report of a mother orangutan and her infant, who we named Hasna and Hasan, near a village. They had been spotted entering Pembuang Hulu Village and finding refuge in a 500m strip of forest surrounded by the village and its palm oil plantation.  

Rescuing an orangutan is not an easy task. Because they dwell in the trees, it can be tricky to get a clear shot with the dart gun used to sedate adult orangutans. Hasna made the rescue teams job even harder by hiding herself and her infant in a nest, covering her body with tree branches and leaves. The team decided to use loud noises to make Hasna move from her nest. It was vital to relocate the orangutans as soon as possible to remove them from any danger from human-wildlife conflict and avoid further distress. Finally, a successful shot was made and Hasna was sedated. When this method of capture is used, a large net is deployed to safely catch the orangutan as they fall from the tree.

The pair were then moved upriver by boat for their medical examination. Thankfully, Hasna was free of air-rifle bullets and pellets, typical indications of human conflict, and had only suffered a minor scratch from the spiny stems of the Rattan trees in the forest she was rescued from. The veterinary team determined that Hasna was 17 years old and Hasan, the male infant, was only 3 months old.

After the examination, Hasna and Hasan were transported to Lamandau Wildlife Reserve where we were able to release them the next day. Hasan will remain by his mother’s side for another 7 to 8 years, learning the skills he’ll need to survive on his own. They join the many other orangutans who live within the reserve that we continue to monitor and protect.

Thanks to your support we are able to provide orangutans with a safe haven to live in. However, this rescue provides a sharp reminder that the 80% of orangutans who live outside of protected areas still encounter daily perils. We have a lot more work to do to protect all orangutans and their habitats.

If you’d like to support our Rescue and Release program, follow the link below for more information.

Orangutan Stories: Mores & Marsha

When our team discover that a female orangutan in the wild is pregnant, there’s a certain energy that’s suddenly felt around camp. Every newborn is vital for the future of this critically endangered species so there’s excitement at the thought of another addition to the population, but also a sense of trepidation, hoping that the birth will go well.

Female orangutan Mores shelters from the rain

This is how our team at Camp Gemini felt back in 2019 when we learnt that reintroduced orangutan Mores was pregnant for the third time. Every time we would see her moving around in the trees within the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, we’d crane our necks to see if there was a little newborn hiding under her long orangey hair. It wasn’t until June that our team were finally rewarded. Emerging from the vegetation came Mores clutching her new tiny infant for the first time!

Mores shows off her newborn

Our monitoring team have to be particularly vigilant for the days following an orangutan birth. It’s the most vulnerable time for any animal in the wild, so to keep a close eye on mother and offspring without disrupting their first moments together is very important.

It was satisfying to see that Mores and her newborn were progressing nicely over the first few days. With her young by her side, she would travel gracefully through the trees and eat plenty of food to keep up their strength. After a while we were finally able to determine that the infant was female, and to follow her mother’s ‘M’ lineage, she was given the name Marsha.

Since then, our staff have enjoyed watching Marsha grow in size and personality in the forest. Witnessing the way her mother climbs, builds nests, and searches for food; the young orangutan is slowly being painted a picture of what an independent life in the rainforest looks like. She still has a few more years to go until she’ll be ready to go it alone, but thanks to her mother’s teachings, Marsha is starting to show the first signs of maturity.

Marsha is Mores’s third offspring, having previously given birth to Marcell and Martin in the wild. For Mores to have grown her family tree so well is truly a fantastic achievement, especially when we consider that she began her life in captivity before her release into the reserve in 2003. A testament to how successful reintroduction can be when orangutans have a safe forest to roam.

Mores and Marsha are thriving in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve

It’s fair to say that Mores has played her part for the future of these critically endangered great apes, unfortunately though, not all orangutans have the opportunity to do so in a habitat that is protected. Orphans taken into the illegal pet trade have an uncertain future, but at the Orangutan Foundation our staff can offer a route back to the wild through our soft-release programme. Please click below to find out how you can adopt an orangutan today and ensure orphans as young as Marsha also have the chance to be independent.

Orangutan Stories: Queen & Quentin

The connection between an orangutan mother and her infant is almost unparalleled in the natural world. While other great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees congregate in groups so each one can contribute to parenting in some way, an orangutan infant has up to eight years of one-on-one time with its mother and is therefore totally dependent on her to survive.

Queen is spotted with her new born Quentin for the first time

In the early stages, every aspect of a young orangutan’s life is catered for by the mother: Travel- They hold onto her as she climbs and swings through the forest. Food- Even when they’ve grown out of breastfeeding, their mother will find the best fruiting trees to keep them well-nourished. Shelter- Every night they’re kept warm and safe up in the forest canopy by a nest that their mother fashions out of branches. It’s why when young orangutans are discovered in the wild or in captivity without their mother, there’s a challenging path to independence that lies ahead for the orphan.

Young orangutan Quentin can rely on his mother Queen for support

This powerful maternal bond is clear to see when our monitoring team watch female orangutan Queen care for her infant Quentin in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. The young male was born two summers ago in the forest surrounding Camp Buluh, and today the pair are ever-present around camp, enabling us to accurately study his development.

Their favourite pastime it seems is to forage for food along the riverbanks. Whether searching for fresh pandan leaves to eat by the water’s edge, or fishing for fallen fruit in the river, Queen will often place Quentin on her head to stay dry as she wades through the water.

It’s an idyllic scene, watching mother and infant gracefully going about their business along the riverbank. However, the recent news of the crocodile attack on male orangutan Brian looms large, so it’s natural for our team to feel a little uneasy of their presence in the water now.

Despite this potential hazard, Queen certainly seems to know what she’s doing. She was one of the first orangutans to be introduced to the protected reserve back in 2003 as a six-year-old, and since then has built a strong legacy of successors. Quentin may be her first son, but previously Queen has raised three females since her release into the wild, so she has a wealth of experience on her side.

While he’s still young, our team will continue to enjoy Quentin’s presence around camp. Each day he spends watching his mother is another day closer to understanding forest life. In the years to come he will gradually learn what it takes to go out and begin his own legacy, but in the meantime, we’re delighted to keeping watching his progress.

Orangutan Stories: Boy

Orangutans are like humans in so many ways. We share around 97% of our DNA which means that biologically speaking there are a number of similarities. We have the same number of teeth, both age in a comparable way, and we can even use a human pregnancy test to check for prospective orangutan mothers!

This means that humans and great apes can also suffer from the same ailments, and orphaned orangutan Boy’s medical history is a prime example of this.

Boy is discovered at a local village in April 2017

As a three-year-old, Boy was separated from his mother and then kept as a pet in a local village. Cages can dramatically restrict an orangutan’s development, and after a few months on his own, Orangutan Foundation staff and government officials BKSDA were alerted to Boy’s presence and hurried to his aid. A thorough medical examination from our vet showed that despite his ordeal, Boy was in good health and ready to embark on his next chapter in the Foundation’s soft-release programme within the protected Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

On his rescue, Boy receives a full-body examination to check his health

In the wild orangutans are a semi-solitary species, which means that although they generally explore their habitat independently, from time to time they do interact with one another. While they develop their natural abilities in our soft-release programme though, Boy and the other orphaned orangutans spend many hours together, learning and playing with one another on their daily trips to the forest.

Boy enjoys company and is perhaps one the most sociable of the young primates under our supervision. He loves exploring the trees with fellow orphan Adib as they climb and practice nest-building. In fact, Boy has even been spotted spending time with wild infant Marsha, until her mother Mores intervened and playfully shooed him away!

Boy swings in the trees with his campmates

Like the other orphaned orangutans in our care, Boy receives regular health check-ups to monitor his development, but recently we discovered something a little unusual. Last month Boy didn’t appear to be himself, he was vomiting and looked very weak and lethargic. Blood tests revealed that he had caught a cold and was suffering from anaemia, a condition which can occur from a lack of iron in the blood, so a course of multivitamin injections and medicines was prescribed by our vet to help alleviate this.

Another ailment which has affected the young male from time to time over the years is hair loss. Like us, every orangutan is unique so they each have varying amounts of hair on their body, but Boy has experienced unusual periods of baldness in recent times. It’s not thought that this is linked to his recent anaemia, so to treat this, our team have begun to use a new shampoo when washing him in the river which will hopefully encourage growth.

A week after his latest illness, our team were delighted to see that Boy’s blood tests were looking more positive. What’s more, the growing great ape appears to have more energy and has bounced back to his usual active self, frolicking with the others in the forest again. We will continue to keep a close eye on Boy’s health as he progresses and we look forward to the day when he will be experienced and strong enough to be released on his own into the wild.

We all have ups and downs, and Boy’s story is another reminder of how like us orangutans can be.

Orangutan Stories: Amoi

It’s strange to think that 20 years ago, if an orangutan outside of a protected forest needed rescuing, there were few secure places they could be released in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Thankfully however, with the establishment of the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, great apes in need have a safe haven where they can be set free.

Six-year-old female Amoi (below) was one of the early orangutans to be translocated to the Reserve in 2004. Swapping a cage for the forest, it was wonderful to transport her from the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine (run by Orangutan Foundation International) and release her into the protected forest around Camp Siswoyo.

Growing up alongside humans meant that Amoi had a very tame nature. In fact, to start with she seemed to prefer spending time around camp instead of exploring the surrounding trees. Soon though she really got into the swing of things, and after a few years she was ready to give birth to her first offspring. Our field team were thrilled to discover that Amoi had adapted so well to her new home in the wild, but in a devastating piece of news shortly after, we learnt that she had sadly lost her young. It’s not uncommon for first-time orangutan mothers to lose their newborn, but reassuringly we would soon find out that Amoi had not lost her mothering instincts.

In 2008, another adult female orangutan named Ruta unfortunately passed away leaving her young son Richard to fend for himself. Our team weren’t sure how Richard might cope as an orphan in the forest, but with a little encouragement we discovered that Amoi was happy to take the inexperienced young orangutan under her wing. She’d become his surrogate mother. The pair prospered in the forest together and when Richard was ready for independence in the wild, Amoi was fully prepared for the next chapter of her story when in 2013, along came Alex.

Our staff fell in love with Amoi’s daughter Alex the first time they laid eyes on her. Initially she was so petit that it was difficult for our team to identify her sex (hence why she was given the unisex name). Even after a couple of weeks Alex was still tiny, in fact she could barely lift her head from her mother’s side (above). It’s amazing that this little primate even had the strength to hold onto her mother as they travelled through the forest, but after some time Alex finally began to grow and demonstrate her character.

In the trees around Camp Gemini within the protected habitat, mother and daughter would often be seen playing together and foraging for fruit wherever they could. The years of experience Amoi had built up were finally coming into practice, she’d proven that she could successfully raise an infant of her own.

That was until the moment in 2016 when Amoi and Alex ventured deeper into the forest and out of sight. The Lamandau Wildlife Reserve spans across almost 160,000 acres of peat-swamp habitat, so its not unusual for recognised orangutans to explore other patches of forest away from our regular patrols. Nonetheless, what a wonderful surprise it would be if our team spotted them in the trees again!

Amoi’s calmness and tranquillity in spite of the challenges is textbook orangutan behaviour. Wherever she may be now, it’s encouraging to think of the legacy this gentle and caring mother has had for this critically endangered species.

Photos taken by Wawan

We rely on your support to ensure orangutans like Amoi and Alex continue to have a safe place to call home. From just £2, you can help our team protect an acre of their tropical rainforest for a whole year!

Saving the most endangered great ape - the Tapanuli orangutan

With only 800 individuals remaining in the wild, the Tapanuli orangutan is the rarest species of great ape. Their home in the mountainous forest of Batang Toru, Northern Sumatra, spans around 250,000 acres but is heavily fragmented due to habitat loss. Consequently, this means that the Tapanuli orangutan is also the most vulnerable of the great apes to become extinct.

We’re determined to provide a future for all orangutans, but as the Tapanuli’s forest is located far from our local programmes in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, we’ve called upon a dedicated team who can help us.

Scorpion - The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Group, are a local NGO in Sumatra whose primary focus is to tackle animal exploitation by working with government and nearby communities. As their main goals match those of Orangutan Foundation, we could think of no one better suited to help us ensure a safer future for the Tapanuli orangutan, and here are three successful approaches that they use to do this:

1) Patrols. With the help of local law enforcement, patrol teams regularly visit 11 sites in the Batang Toru region which are orangutan habitats or areas of suspected illegal activity. It can be daunting prospect to explore a remote patch of rainforest which may harbour illegal loggers, miners, or wildlife traffickers, but it’s a necessary task to deter such destructive activity.

So far the team have caught illegal loggers felling trees for timber, reported man-made shelters in the forest which are likely used by hunters, and even uncovered patches of forest within nature reserves that have been cleared to make way for illegal plantations. All destructive behaviours which if left unfound, would destroy vast areas of orangutan habitat.

2) Investigations. As a result of these patrols, and by cooperating with local communities and government, the team can investigate these offenses further to thwart more habitat encroachment.

In some cases they have been able to identify names of loggers and ensure that previously used camps within protected areas have been abandoned. These surveys are ongoing, but to date have ensured that a dozen or so sites of illegal activity are no longer used.

3) Awareness. It’s paramount that we spread the word and remind local communities that their surrounding forests are essential for Tapanuli orangutans, and this has been communicated in a number of ways in the Batang Toru region.

Agriculture is the primary livelihood for many local people so instructive talks and discussions have helped encourage nearby villages to reduce the spread of their farmland into protected areas. Interestingly, the team have also incorporated the message into Friday prayers in mosques and Sunday sermons in churches to emphasise the matter and raise awareness to over 300 villagers. This is a unique approach but one that is proving to have a positive impact on the local perception of orangutans and their forests.

Despite major difficulties from the emergence of the global pandemic, the Scorpion team have worked wonders to protect the Batang Toru ecosystem. Through our partnership so far the team have helped strengthen over 15,000 hectares of strict conservation area, providing a safer forest for Tapanuli orangutans and encouraging better relations with local people for the future. From their findings it’s clear that habitat loss and encroachment will continue to be a major hurdle, but there are at least effective ways of resolving this with the right support.

Orangutan Stories: Satria

For some animals, as soon they’re born, they’re ready to explore the wild on their own. For orangutans though, their home in the tropical rainforest is full of potential hazards and often limited sources of food. They consequently must observe and learn from the teachings of their mother before they can be truly independent. This is a complicated process however, and can take 6-8 years for an orangutan to be fully prepared, longer than any other species in the animal kingdom.

Therefore, to be separated from their mother and kept alone as a pet in a cage genuinely holds back the development of a young great ape. Sadly this is how Satria’s life began, until 2017 when the two-and-a-half year old was rescued from captivity and taken to the forest for the very first time!

In Orangutan Foundation’s soft-release programme within the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, Satria could finally know what it was like to climb a tree and interact with other orangutans. At Camp Rasak alongside fellow orphan Endut, Satria was taken out into the surrounding habitat every day and gradually built up his range of forest skills. He took to climbing like a duck to water, and would often be seen playing with some of the younger wild great apes in the forest, but it would take him a few years to master the most complex orangutan talent- nest-building.

Our staff would take Satria to varying parts of the forest to familiarise him with different areas, and slowly but surely, he perfected the art of building a sturdy overnight nest in the trees. To ease his way into the wilder side, our team then supervised Satria as he spent a night or two in the forest independently. Building up the familiarity with sleeping in a nest he’d built was visibly helping his development, and this month Satria spent five nights in the forest surrounding camp on his own. A big milestone for a young orangutan but he took it in his stride, and it was clear that he was now ready to be released.

Following a final medical check-up from our vet and a negative test for COVID-19, Satria had made it. The time had finally come for him to leave camp for good and become entirely independent!

Satria receives a final check-up and COVID test from our vet before being ready for release

Now a fully-fledged young adult, Satria weighs 30kg. It was therefore a tiring 1km walk for our team and local government staff from BKSDA to carry Satria through the forest to his specially chosen release site. In the presence of Orangutan Foundation Founder and Director/Trustee Ashley Leiman OBE, Satria’s travel crate was eagerly opened and he quickly rushed out onto a nearby tree.

In a somewhat nervy start which saw him clambering over his travel crate, Satria seemed more interested in the group that had gathered to see him off, and it was only once everyone had dispersed that he decided to climb up into the trees to explore his new patch of forest. All his preparation had led to this moment and at last he’d graduated from our soft-release programme!

For at least 10 days after his release, our monitoring team will continue to observe Satria’s progress from afar. Already we’re delighted to see that he’s beginning to establish himself in the population of over 600 orangutans in this Reserve, and who knows, in the future we may see Satria become an impressive dominant male orangutan in the forest. For our team, there could be no greater reward!

Orangutan Stories: Batuah

In our latest remarkable orangutan rescue, we’re reminded not only of the challenges facing this critically endangered species, but also the dangers imposed on our wildlife rescue team. Everything doesn’t always go to plan:

Wildlife rescues can be dangerous for both animals and humans

Many residents of the small village of Batuah in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, rely on farming as a source of food and revenue. Situated on the outskirts of Sampit, the largest town in the area, Batuah sits beside tropical forest and is therefore frequented by wildlife from time to time.

Over the past year or so, one villager had been keeping his eye on a male orangutan that seems to reside in the forest nearby. That was until recently when the primate was seen a few days in a row in their orchards eating pineapples and jackfruit. To avoid a potentially hazardous encounter, it was time for government officials BKSDA and Orangutan Foundation’s rescue team to swing into action.

Villagers gather as our vet helps the orangutan

Arriving at the scene, our team could see that they might have a struggle on their hands. Although the orangutan showed no aggression, he was clearly a large and imposing figure, and surrounded by many villagers. For his safety he needed to be tranquilized and translocated to an area where he could roam freely.

Carefully the 55kg male was darted, captured safely in a net, and given a brief once over by our vet. It needed the help of some local people to lift the orangutan and get him into his transport crate. At first sight he had many cuts on his feet, most likely from sharp rattan and rubber trees in the plantation, but more worrying were the number of bullet wounds found on his skin. It’s unclear whether these came from residents of the village or further afield, but before he could be released into the wild, we would need to investigate the great ape’s injuries in more detail without so many people around.

The orangutan goes under the knife

The orangutan was given the name Batuah, after the village, and transported to offices in Pangkalan Bun for inspection. Unfortunately, eight rifle-pellets were found still lodged in Batuah’s skin so he would require minor surgery before being eligible for release.

For his operation, Batuah received an anaesthesia injection to send him to sleep but the large male was still moving while being taken to the surgery table. Carrying out treatment on such a powerful animal is extremely dangerous if they’re not completely anaesthetised so a second half-dose was required to make sure Batuah wouldn’t feel a thing. One, two, and then three pellets were successfully removed without incident, until our vet noticed something- Batuah was starting to move again!

For the safety of everyone involved, the team made the quick decision to end the surgery there and then. Batuah was hurriedly moved back into his transport crate where he could wake up in peace, and thankfully it appeared that the remaining pellets in his skin were not causing any pain or limits to his movement. With another day to gather his strength and recover from his surgery, the great ape would soon be ready to go back to the wild.

Batuah is taken by boat to a safe haven

The next day our team carried Batuah in his travel crate onto a speed boat and took him upriver into the safety of the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. They were thrilled to see him dart out of his cage on his release and then sprint up into the forest canopy, safe and free. In his new home, Batuah can roam in confidence without the need to take food from plantations as if he’d never left the forest.

His story is one that perfectly summarises the challenges facing most orangutans in the wild today. The growth of human activity must expand into something, and in many places, it encroaches into forests which in turn leads to more human-wildlife interactions and conflict. The fact that Batuah can now survive in a protected habitat makes him one of the lucky ones, but as our towns and farmlands continue to expand, the number of rescues required will only increase.

In fact as we go to print, we’ve received news that a gibbon has also been rescued from a nearby village having been kept as a pet for seven years. It’s hoped this primate will also be released into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Orangutan Stories: Kotim & Torup

How time flies. It’s remarkable to think that it was six years ago this month when orphaned orangutans Kotim and Torup were released back into the wild after graduating from our soft-release programme. It feels like only yesterday, and Orangutan Foundation Director/Trustee Ashley Leiman OBE remembers it well:

“It’s always a joy when orangutans leave our care and successfully return to a life in the wild. When possible, we time the release dates for when I’m out in the field and I was delighted to be present to see Kotim and Torup beginning their independent life in the forest…

Kotim and Torup embraced their time in our soft-release programme

…Kotim and Torup were two young orphans that were found on community land in 2014 and brought to our soft release programme at Camp Rasak. After two years they had shown competence in orangutan skills such as finding food and making a nest to sleep. They were spending more and more time out in the forest, and it was getting harder to get them back – we knew that they were ready to leave.

They were carried by piggyback about 1 kilometre further into the forest. When the assistants lifted them down and put them on a tree, they instantly climbed high into the canopy. Torup went first and immediately started eating leaves, a great sign that he was both relaxed and capable of looking after himself. We stayed for about half an hour, watching ever further glimpses at the canopy level and then they disappeared into the forest. We couldn’t have hoped for a better start…

Kotim in her element in the trees

…For ten days Kotim and Torup were followed by our assistants, who kept an eye on them as they adapted to life in the wild. Since then, Torup has never been seen again, but Kotim comes back every now and then, and has befriended a few orangutans that are currently in soft release.

For the assistants who have been with them every day for years, releases can be an emotional time. For me, I just love the moment when the cage opens or the orangutans are set on a tree and instantly they’re orangutans – they can do this and they know what to do...

…I find it fascinating that a young orphan can make a nest without its mother there to teach it. Is it imprinted from the short time they are with the mother, or is it just written into their being like a computer code?

We don’t have to teach them orangutan skills, we just facilitate and watch until they’ve mastered it themselves. When we rescue orangutans and bring them for release in a transit cage, we take them by boat to the edge of the river, open the cage and they’re gone – straight up a tree as if they’ve never been away.”

Kotim’s now back in the wild where she belongs

Releasing an orphaned orangutan back to the wild is no doubt an incredible feeling for our team, but there’s a lot of hard work needed to care for a young active great ape. Adopt an orangutan in our soft-release programme for yourself or as a gift today and you can give a helping hand to primates like Kotim & Torup!

Orangutan Stories: Timtom

In the wild, a nine-month-old orangutan infant is entirely dependant on their mother. A mother picks the correct food for them to eat, carries them by their side through the forest, and builds a nest every night to shelter in.

Timtom at nine-months-old however was not able to rely on her mother for guidance. Somewhere along the way she had been separated from her mother and in 2016 was rescued from life as a pet by local government officials BKSDA Kalimantan Tengah. To offer Timtom a second chance of a wild future she was entrusted into Orangutan Foundation’s soft-release programme for orphaned orangutans where instead of climbing the bars of a cage, she could climb trees every day in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Timtom gets to grips with the forest in the soft-release programme

In the safety of a protected forest, Timtom has matured over the past six years from the shy and hesitant infant we first met, into a healthy and self-assured young orangutan. Timtom shares her temporary home at Camp JL with three other orphans and enjoys climbing with them in the trees. Most days she’s taken to the forest with Boy, a male orangutan 18-months older than her, but when she begins to tire in the afternoon Timtom often makes her way down to the forest floor to play on her own. This is where her unique personality really shines through!

According to our Reintroduction Manager Mr. Azhari, Timtom is an adept climber and has no difficulties scaling the tallest trees but instead she prefers to roll around and play on the forest floor. Perhaps as she’s spent time with humans from such an early age, Timtom has become accustomed to a life on terra firma and has no problems letting her fellow campmates play together in the trees while she’s down on the ground.

Timtom plays her favourite game at Camp JL

Timtom’s inquisitive nature is truly on show when she’s exploring the leaf litter on the forest floor. When she’s not digging a deep hole with her hands and rubbing sand on her head, she’s seeking out the nearest puddle to rummage in and spread wet mud all over her face. It may be messy but in the heat of the day it is a great way to cool off!

Timtom spends her playtime in puddles on the forest floor

This playful and somewhat childish behaviour is certainly entertaining for our team to watch but it also shows that Timtom is not yet ready to be released into the forest on her own. While she may be a talented climber in the trees, she’s not begun practicing nest-building like the other great apes at camp, an essential skill for any wild orangutan.

Our staff have seen other young orangutans put their juvenile behaviours behind them and have successful releases into the wild, so we are confident that with more time Timtom will be able to join them in the forest. Until that day comes, we will continue to provide Timtom will all the support she needs to be the wild orangutan we know she can be.