Monti is a very clever orangutan and she is often motherly and friendly towards other orangutans. Because of these traits, the team at the IAR Care Centre thought they would give Monti the opportunity to become a foster mother to a baby orangutan named Anggun.
Anggun was rescued when he was less than one year old in April 2018. He is still very young, and although he has now finished his time in quarantine, he is still too young to go in with the other orangutans and needs a mother figure for comfort and security.
The team introduced Monti and Anggun to each other in August and it has gone very well. After a few days of socialisation, Monti and Anggun have formed a close bond. Monti has been teaching Anggun new skills including how to open a coconut, and she always lets Anggun drink and eat first. Monti seems to have the knack when it comes to motherhood, even finding ways to calm Anggun when he cries. Anggun will lie on Monti’s belly when she sleeps.
This is a very good learning experience for Monti as she progresses on her way to being released and becoming a mother in the future after she is released. And of course it is lovely that baby Anggun has found some comfort in Monti after all that he has been through in losing his own mother.
