The handsome Rocky spends much of his time high in the canopy either traveling or socialising with other orangutans on Ali Island at the IAR orangutan rescue centre in West Kalimantan. Rocky is very social and has lots of friends, his closest ones being Rickina, Gunung, Jamila, Mac and Onyo. They often explore the forest together and forage for forest fruit, grasses, and termites.
However, Rocky’s exploratory behaviour sometimes goes too far, and he is often seen trying to sneakily escape from the island. The orangutan keepers have been developing and providing extra enrichment to fulfil his time and curiosity to keep him busy in the forest and hopefully encouraging Rocky to forget his master escape plan! The team has also kept a close eye on him to make sure that his escape attempts are not successful.
Rocky is becoming increasingly independent, and his forest survival skills continue to develop. These skills will serve Rocky well when he is released in the future. It’s wonderful to see Rocky doing so well on his rehabilitation journey.
Rickina continues to undergo rehabilitation on Ali Island at the IAR orangutan rescue centre in West Kalimantan with 16 other orangutans, including Rocky. Rickina spends a lot of time traveling around the island in search of forest fruit, dilenia grass, fern leaves, and other forest foods. Sometimes Rickina also forages for termites in rotten wood across the island.
Despite her ability to forage well for natural food items, Rickina does not miss a meal brought by the orangutan keepers. When it is close to mealtime, Rickina and her friends are always there to receive their share. After her stomach is full, she usually searches for a shady tree to rest for a while whilst watching the other orangutans playing. Occasionally, when she is in a good mood and not so lazy, she also plays and socialises with the other orangutans after lunch.
Rickina loves the enrichment that the orangutan keepers bring to the island, and usually spends her afternoons playing and ‘feeding’ on it, even when there is not much to feed on. Rickina is also quite skilled at finding a sturdy and comfortable tree to spend the night. Building good sleeping nests from scratch has always been one of Rickina’s strongest skills. As she has been growing quite quickly, Rickina will soon be an eligible candidate for the ‘grown-up islands’. These islands are for orangutans who are in their final stage of rehabilitation and on the top of the list for release. It is wonderful to see Rickina make such good progress and become even closer to forest freedom. Well done Rickina!
Photos: Rocky photos on top row and Rickina photos on bottom row.
