This year is on the older side but it's so beautiful not to share. When Clara, the orangutan gave birth to baby Clarita, Clarita was kidnapped by a dominant male. At the Orangutan Jungle School, caretakers reintroduce Clara to her stolen baby but worry she will reject her.
But Clara was impatient and wanted to hold her baby, that much is obvious. Just looking into the eyes of this mother as she finally holds her baby... it's enough to make a grown man cry.
We love Sandra the Orangutan. Some of you may recall that a while ago, Sandra was imprisoned at an inhumane zoo for 25 years, isolated from other orangutans. In 2014, a court ruled Sandra to be a "non-human person," meaning she is entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by humans.
Today, Sandra has been granted "personhood" and is living at the Center for Great Apes, an Ape sanctuary. There, she lives along 21 other rescued orangutans!
Sandra's story is a sad one but we can't help but admire her strength and her obvious intelligence. In a viral video, from last year, you can see Sandra diligently washing her hands, after seeing her caretakers doing so. And now, another video is going viral, one showing her cleaning her enclosure and her hands, again after observing the caretakers doing the same.
You are amazing Sandra, and we'll never stop admiring you!
Sandra puts us all to shame with her diligent hand-washing! Look at her washing her hands so thoroughly, checking her nails and all!
That's surgeon prepping for surgery level, if you ask us...
Take notes, everyone. Wash your hands and be more like Sandra.
You might remember Sandra from a previous sad story. Sandra was isolated and imprisoned at an inhumane zoo for 25 year, in a cell-like enclosure in Argentina. Today. thankfully, Sandra is now living a wonderful life at the Center of Great Apes, a Great Ape Sanctuary, and is living with other orangutans.
Video originally by Center for Great Apes. And if you wish to learn more about the incredible Sandra, look no further than here!
Gemma Copeland was left in tears after visiting Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria.
While in the orangutan enclosure, Copeland realized her son, 15-month-old Jasper, was hungry. She sat down against the glass to breastfeed him when a female orangutan, named Sol, who had been watching Copeland intently, comes to sit beside her.. as if protecting her as she breastfeeds.
Sadly, Sol had previously given birth to a stillborn infant.
Copeland was moved to tears by the gesture, writing, "She looked directly into my eyes then placed her hand up as if to touch my son. I was in awe of this beautiful creature already. My son wanted feeding and as it was quiet I fed him whilst I sat there. The way the orangutan reacted took my breath away she kept looking at me, then my son then back again.
She sat with me for approximately half an hour, and kept stroking the glass and lay down next to me as if to support and protect me. I was absolutely gobsmacked and got quite a crowd of people turning up to see what was going on – people were sat watching quietly and respectfully. It was really lovely and I didn't want to leave – it felt incredible and I was crying so much because I couldn't take it in.
I had to share this because my mind was blown, we may be a species apart but breastfeeding connected us today in a once in a lifetime moment that will stay with me forever."
Sol undoubtably had a strong connection to this mother and her child. Orangutans are such gentle and loving souls, Sol is an example of that love.
Story via The Scottish Sun
Meet Sandra, an Orangutan who has spent 25 years in a tiny prison cell-like enclosure in a zoo in Argentina, isolated from any other Orangutans.
Sandra was born in captivity, and has lived at the zoo in Buenos Aires Zoo for 20 years when the zoo officially closed it's doors in 2016. The park officials announced the animals within the zoo would be set free but the experts struggled with the decision on what to do with Sandra.
According to a court ruling in 2014, Sandra was considered a 'non-human person,' who was entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by humans. However, the judge who fought to free Sandra in 2014 took the side of the zoo caretakers and thought the best course of action to take with Sandra would be just to improve conditions within her cage, rather than send her to a reserve aboard.
Many officials feared that moving her would all result in negative aspects, fearing she would not survive.
Today, she has been granted 'personhood' and is officially settling into her new life in Wauchula, Florida, along with 21 other rescued orangutans and chimpanzees!
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.
The International Animal Rescue organization recently opened an orangutan "pre-school" in Borneo where orphaned baby orangutans learn to climb, socialize and live among their peers without the threat of poaching or habitat destruction. Could there be anything cuter? probably not.
Thailand's Customs Guards searched a Malaysian man's vehicle at the border control in Thailand and found a shocking discovery...
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.
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.
