Playful Orangutan Poses For The Cameras At A Rehabilitation Center

Orangutans, just like the chimpanzees, are considered to be the smartest animals on Earth after humans. They are endangered in the wild, mainly due to the continued destruction of their habitats.
Check it out as this playful orangutan poses for the cameras at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in the Malaysian Sabah District of North Borneo.Show more

The center opened in 1964 as the first official orangutan rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting or kept as pets. The orphaned orangutans are trained to survive again in the wild and are released as soon as they are ready. Today around 60 to 80 orangutans are living free in the reserve.

In the wild, orangutan youngsters remain with their mothers for up to six years, who teach their skills necessary for survival in the forest. The most important of which is climbing trees. In Sepilok, a training system is used to replace the teaching of the mother. The younger monkey will be paired with the older one, who will transfer the skills necessary for the forest life. Recently rehabilitated animals have their own diet - daily feeding with milk and bananas. Food is purposefully monotonous and boring to encourage monkeys to start feeding themselves.

The center provides medical assistance for orphaned and confiscated orangutans, as well as for dozens of other animals such as bears, gibbons, rhinoceroses, accidentally wounded elephants, other types of monkeys, etc.

The center provides an opportunity to see orangutans from a close distance, which is impossible in their natural habitat. The boardwalk leads visitors to the viewing gallery and feeding platform, on which rangers feed monkeys twice a day at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Feeding time also attracts long-tailed macaques that live in this area.

Some orangutans have ceased to fear people and come close, but it is not recommended to touch them. While monkeys are naturally shy and tender, the more mischievous of them can try to take a hold of your cameras or hat. In this case, you should refer to the rangers, since trying to fight a 200-pound monkey cannot be a good idea. The monkey in the video on the top of the page captures the camera in a different way.

In the video we see a young orangutan who is well adopted in his new natural environment. The is walking on the bridge made for the rehabilitation center visitors but, like monkeys would, instead of using the boards made for walking, he is doing his stride in the side fence. The people visiting the center give the orangutan enough space to avoid him feeling frightened, but it seems the hero of our video feels quite comfortable associating with the quests. He even gives them an extra show – a photo session of him sitting in different poses and climbing the trees around the bridge as if to show what stunts he has learned there. It’s always a good time for a bit of monkeying around, especially under the watchful eye of the rehabilitation center employees.

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