Rocky has developed in leaps and bounds since his last update, and now stays out in the forest all the time. He is a very brave, curious orangutan, and has been exploring the forest, travelling far away from other orangutans.
As he used to be very scared and daunted by things, seeing him improve in confidence has been fantastic, and we are happy with how settled Rocky now is in the forest.
Rocky is a big orangutan with a huge appetite. He loves foraging, and continues to favour wild fruit over fruit that is provided to him by the staff. This is a very positive sign that he will be able to sustain himself in the wild. Although he spends a lot of time on his own, he is a popular orangutan and loves to play. Perhaps because of his size, he gets into lots of play fights and is a favoured playmate for many of the orangutans.
Rocky struggles with nest building, and while he is getting better, this is still an area that needs improvement. It’s early days though, and as Rocky has improved so much and so quickly, we are confident that he will continue to develop in this area, and eventually get the hand of making nests.
Rickina continues to impress her carers with her intelligence. She is incredibly curious and always takes control of the enrichment, finding different ways to explore it and, depending on her mood, break it. She is a proficient forager, always looking for fruits, leaves and insects to eat, and has recently been feasting heavily on termites. She will use almost all levels of the forest, scaling the very tops of the trees and coming down to the ground.
Rickina is solitary in nature and usually plays by herself, and has little interest in humans. She spends most of her time away from other orangutans, and usually in the higher canopy, where she can often hide and forage or sleep in peace. She is still one of the best nest builders at the IAR centre, and the other orangutans still often use her nests after she has vacated them.
It is fantastic to see Rickina showing so many wild orangutan skills in forest school.
Photos: Landscape images are Rocky. Portrait images are Rickina
