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Published: November 16th 2010
Ringo and Mimi have spotted Miskam
the big blob in the front is MiskamRingo is young and handsome and he likes Mimi. And it was looking promising for him - until Miskam arrived on the scene. Mimi was smitten. Miskam is big and good looking and all Ringo could do was trying to pull his girl away from this new rival. Miskam made it clear he was not impressed and Ringo retreated in humiliation. But for whatever reason - and against all expectations - Mimi had a change of heart and the last I saw of Mimi and Ringo was the two of them huddled together, holding hands....
This may sound a little like a teen-soap but it was just what was happening on the orang-utan platform one afternoon. And although we should not interpret animal behaviour by comparing it to human behaviour, it seemed quite understandable to everyone who was witnessing this story unfold, why Ringo reacted the way he did.
Working with young orang-utans is all I had been hoping for. Of course they are first and foremost wild animals and we are trying to respect that. But they are also animal children and they behave not that differently from their human counterparts. They are inquisitive, demanding and at times very
funny. And they certainly know how to wrap us around their little fingers - as soon as they are not happy with something or want food or attention they start to cry; it’s a high pitched whining noise that sounds a bit like a tiny puppy and it really pulls at our heartstrings making it very difficult to resist their demands sometimes.
Orang-utans are solitary animals but it is amazing how affectionate they are with each other. The youngsters often sit together, holding hands and kissing and when one of them encountered a new, much smaller arrival recently she went over to him and took his hand as if to comfort him. Young orang-utans stay with their mothers until they are about 7 years old, which is an unusually long time and reflects the amount of knowledge they have to acquire before they are ready to survive on their own. Of course we cannot replace an orang-utan mother. And as soon as humans have to take care of wild animals the situation becomes artificial and fraught with problems. But they are trying very hard here at Sepilok to give these unfortunate little orphans the best start in their new
lives after their sad beginnings.
As volunteers our job is to look after the youngsters, keep them and their enclosures clean to protect them from diseases, feed them and teach them some of the skills they need in later life, like climbing, building nests and recognizing dangers. And spending the afternoon at the “jungle gym” at the edge of the rainforest, watching young orang-utans play and helping them to gain confidence to climb trees or interact with each other has so far been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
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Zoidie
non-member comment
Awesome J girl!!
Darling J! Fabulous narrative... I felt I was right there with you... wish you were close so I could give you a BIG Orang hug.. :). Keep writing, this is awesome, and splendid and full of love and wisdom. So proud of you. Your pics are fantastic as well. Love always, rosemary.