orangutan

Since being found stressed, dehydrated and caged in a small village in Borneo, 5-year-old orphan Alba is learning how to pick up the pieces while trying to make new friends. Watch his fascinating story. 

In Borneo, many young orangutans are orphaned due to poaching and habitat loss. The babies who still have a chance at returning to the wild need to learn the survival skills their mothers would have taught them. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation(BOSF) rescues and rehabilitates these orangutans through a program called Forest School. Oregon Zoo primate keeper Cydney Sines and some colleagues traveled to Borneo to help train these Forest School students. Using positive reinforcement techniques, they were able to encourage the young orangutans to learn the skills they'll need to survive in the wild.

After two years shut up in a tiny dark wooden box, Kotap, a young four-year-old male orangutan in Indonesia has finally been freed and taken to the rescue center Of International Animal Rescue (IAR) for treatment and rehabilitation. When rescuers found him, Kotap had nothing but a straw and a plastic bottle with him. Watch The Video of the rescue.

He doesn't look like he has time to be bothered by the visitors at the zoo.

Got a hot date tonight?

Actor and Activist, Leonardo DiCaprio, recently posted this photo to his Instagram account with the description: "As the forest of the #Indonesian #LeuserEcosystem continues to be cleared to meet demand for Palm Oil, the critically endangered Sumatran #orangutan is being pushed to the brink of extinction. Here, at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme's Orangutan Quarantine Center, rescued orangutans are rehabilitated so they can be released back into the wild. If we don't stop this rampant destruction, the Leuser Ecosystem and the Sumatran orangutans that call it home could be lost forever. Click the link in the bio to support this important work. #Indonesia". This is clearly a cause close to his heart. If you'd like to learn more, the link he's talking about can be found here.

It seems clear that this orangutan isn't interested in kissing just anybody. The poster of this video says that his dad belly got a dirty look. Maybe this primate just loves babies!