While we were in Borneo, we had the opportunity to visit a sanctuary for young, orphaned orangutans. Orangutans are native to Borneo, but are endangered due to the usual reasons... rainforest being destroyed, hunting, etc. Young orangs need care from their mothers for up to seven years, and if their mother dies or is killed before that time, the baby will not make it either. When these orphaned orangs are found, they are brought to this sanctuary where they are cared for to an extent, but also allowed to remain as wild as possible, in a small protected forest. There some food is provided, but just enough that the animals will still need to forage on their own, while learning from an older orangutan. After they reach seven years old they are transferred to another, larger sancuary in Borneo where they will stay for a time until they are ready to be released back into the wild.
Heading into the santuary.
Look at the size of those leaves!
First view of an orangutan at the feeding platform.
While we waited and watched, a total of four young orangs came through the trees.
The people in our group gathered on the viewing platform in the trees. A limited number of people are allowed into the sanctuary twice a day.
Initially the orangutans were mostly high in the trees or partially hidden from view, but as we waited they moved closer and put on quite a show. They were so expressive that they were really fun to photograph... thus the large amount of pictures in this post! You should have seen how many we took!
2 comments:
Great pictures!
We miss you!
They are adorable...I'm trying to convince Brad that Woody needs a brother...
Post a Comment