Natalie Chester was a dedicated, passionate volunteer with The Orangutan Project. She was the Regional Representative for Bendigo, Victoria for over six years. Nat, as she was affectionately known, had loved orangutans from when she was a small girl.
Nat used to tell the story about Charlie, a male orangutan she met as a child living in Malaysia. She wrote the following in a Facebook post:
The school I attended sponsored an orangutan named Charlie who lived at the zoo in Kuala Lumpur. He used to visit the school and play on the playground. I would have been about 6 the last time I saw him. I have always remembered Charlie the orangutan and have loved them ever since.
Years later, in 2014, she visited Singapore Zoo and went to the orangutan area, where something truly magical happened. Here are her words:
As we were walking through the orangutan area I came across a sign for a male orangutan called Charlie that had been brought to the zoo from the zoo in Kuala Lumpur in 2005. I called Wayne over with exclamations of, "it couldn't be!"
We found Charlie and agreed he looked old as he lay on the floor sleeping in the heat. There were a lot of people standing along the glass watching him sleep. Suddenly he got up and made a loud noise and walked up and down the glass with his arms in the air. Then he stopped. Right in front of me! And he sat down - pressing his body against the glass right where I was standing with my hand on the glass! Needless to say I felt quite emotional - could it be him and he remembers me?
I later found a keeper and asked him how old Charlie would be. He said the zoo in Malaysia had estimated his age and they believe he would be in his late 30's now. I then told the keeper about Charlie who visited the school - he straight away said that it would be the same orangutan! When I told the keeper about Charlie stopping at the glass he said that it was very possible he remembered me. What a truly amazing thing!
Nat had a special relationship with one orangutan, which demonstrates the deep intelligence of these sentient beings. But as the Bendigo Regional Representative, she raised funds for all orangutans, both wild and those in our care centres in Borneo and Sumatra. Her childhood passion translated into a lifelong adult commitment to doing her bit to help save orangutans and their rainforest homes. We are so grateful to Nat for her years of support, dedication, creative ideas, good humour and willingness to battle all kinds of weather to set up stalls at markets, festivals and shopping centres.
During the challenging years of COVID-19, when lockdowns across Victoria made it difficult to raise funds, she instigated and helped coordinate the first ever OrangARTan Competition. She was a wonderful supporter and a bright, cheery presence in all that she did. Natalie will be greatly missed by her fellow Bendigo volunteers and by those who worked with her at The Orangutan Project. We want to thank Nat for her incredible dedication, love and support. She will be forever remembered.
We send our deepest sympathies and condolences to her loved ones. We know this loss will cut deeply for a long time.