Orangutans learn to smoke

Orangutan

Orangutans live in the wild only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. A visit to the orangutan rehabilitation center in Sepilok is therefore a must while I'm on Borneo.

Young orangutans are brought to the rehabilitation center as orphans due to losing their mothers to deforestation or because they were confiscated as illegal pets. Very young orangutans need care just like human babies. They have to be bottle-fed every four hours, bathed and cuddled. As they grow older, the rehabilitation center provides an education process that is very similar to a human kindergarten. They play together and learn how to climb. This is a crucial skill that they must learn before they can be reintroduced into the wild.

Orangutans come for the feeding

At the age of about five years they are gradually released into the jungle. This is the age at which they would have left their mother had they grown up in the wild. They can’t survive on their own yet as they must still learn how to find food and make nests in trees where they sleep. They learn these skills by observing other orangutans. Until they are fully self-sufficient they willingly return to the rehabilitation center to sleep in their cages. The center also feeds them twice daily and tourists are allowed to observe these feedings.

Orangutans go off after feeding

Although the tourists are warned to be quiet because the orangutans are shy and may not come to feed if there is too much noise, this was not the case. Many tourists ignored the signs and yakked away incessantly. And the orangutans are oblivious to the hordes of tourists with their cameras snapping away. Because the orangutans grew up in captivity, they probably believe that groups of tourists twice daily at feeding times are a normal element of the jungle.

Eating pose

In addition to orangutans, the jungle hosts many other wild animals, including macaque monkeys. They are not only accustomed to tourists, this fellow knew I was taking his photo and he posed for me:

Macaque

The macaque monkeys also came to the feeding platform, but it was obvious who is master of the jungle. The macaques were tolerated to approach only after the orangutans ate and even then an orangutan brutally smacked a macaque who dared come too close.

Macaques approach after the orangutans are fed

As with any close encounter with monkeys/apes, tourists are warned not to touch them, not to allow them access to food or their belongings. There are free lockers at the entrance to store stuff where I gladly left my daypack, going into the jungle with only my camera, holding it tightly and closely so it wouldn’t be grabbed by a monkey or ape. And as usual in large groups of tourists, there are always those who refuse to obey instructions.

An orangutan examines a tourist's pockets

A woman allowed an orangutan to examine her pockets although she should have moved away. A guard was on hand to remind her to keep moving but she just stood there, finding it amusing. The orangutan found and took her cigarettes and lighter. Another orangutan joined him in examining the loot while the guard was upset, explaining that is why the tourists are asked to keep a distance from the animals. He went to fetch the ranger who would take care of the situation. In the meantime, the two orangutans examined the cigarettes, tried chewing them and upon discovering they were inedible, abandoned them.

Orangutans with cigarettes

Then they focused their attention on the lighter. Now it wasn’t funny anymore, what if they succeeded in lighting it? They weren’t able to light it but for lack of any better ideas, one of them bit it. Finally the ranger arrived and the orangutans immediately recognized him, handed him the two pieces of the broken lighter and went back over the fence into the jungle. It ended well although the ranger was concerned whether they had swallowed any of the lighter fluid but apparently they didn’t.

Orangutans playing with fire

All’s well that ends well. But tourists will always be tourists and there are always those who ignore instructions and thus put themselves and others in danger.