Monti and her adopted daughter Anggung have continued to flourish on their forested rehabilitation island at the IAR rescue centre in West Kalimantan.
Mother-infant bonding is a universal relationship of all mammal species. The bond between a mother and infant orangutan is very strong and young orangutans are solely dependent on their mothers for food and transport until they are around two years old. After this time, they are still dependent but have begun foraging and travelling alone for short periods of time.
Concerning this, Monti is a great teacher for Anggung, teaching her many skills such as socializing, climbing, foraging and also travelling high in the treetops across the forest of IAR’s ‘university island’. Aggunng loves to learn and is not scared at all to try new things, under the watchful eye of Monti of course. Both spend their days searching for various forest foods including fruits, leaves and termites. They also spend time socialising with the other 17 orangutans on the island.
Due to the forest fires in West Kalimantan in August and September, all orangutans at the IAR centre are being monitored extra closely and checked for any signs of distress from smoke.
