Sudin and his best friend Siti have now been in the rehabilitation program in the Bukit Tigapuluh Ecosystem in Sumatra for just over one year.
Little Sudin exploring the canopy
Both orangutans are active and healthy. They go out to Jungle School almost every day to learn forest skills including climbing, foraging and nest building. Sudin has showed good climbing and foraging skills and he is starting to learn how to build a nest. He will mostly watch Siti, and other orangutans build nests, and he shares a nest with Siti. He is eating forest fruits, flowers, bark, stem, insects, and leaves.
Sudin and Siti like to play with other orangutans, especially the juveniles and babies of released orangutans. Several nursing females let Siti and Sudin follow them. This is wonderful since the youngsters can learn vital skills from these experienced orangutans and they also get to socialise with other young orangutans. Sudin will sometimes come to the ground and seek out the attention of the orangutan trainers. If he does this, then they will ignore him or carry him to another area to increase his curiosity. Siti is more independent than Sudin, so she spends most of her time in the canopy and is less reliant on the trainers.
Siti is more agile when moving from tree to tree than Sudin. Sudin can be a bit clumsy and has had a few falls. They spend most of their time 5-10 meters above the ground, however they also climb as high as 25m into the canopy.
When it is too wet for Jungle School the orangutan keepers will bring Sudin and Siti extra enrichment to keep them busy in their enclosure. Enrichment includes puzzle feeders, sugar cane and forest fruits. Sudin and Siti still receive fruits, vegetables and milk every day. Sudin’s favourite foods are banana and pineapple, but he is not a picky eater.
It is wonderful to see how well Sudin and Siti are doing at Jungle School. They have a very close bond which is very important for orphaned orangutans. It provides comfort and security and an increase in confidence when learning new things. Being able to interact with other more experienced orangutans in the forest has also proven to be very beneficial to their learning. Thank you to Sudin’s adopters for helping this gorgeous little guy on his way to forest freedom.
