At last,
we have received an orangutan baby from
Wanariset and a story
about her. She will be re-named Olga, in Olga Bakker's
memory.
The
baby's name used to be Acong. Acong (now Olga)
came to Wanariset on November 1st 1998. Her weight was only
2
Kg. This tiny female orangutan came from the Bengalon area.
When
Olga came to Wanariset the technicians noticed
that she had a
unique oval face with round funny black eyes and four teeth.
It
wasn't
very long before she took all the medic's and babysitter's
hearts
and
became everybody's favorite. She likes to be near the
technicians
and
the desk at the clinic is one of her favorite hide outs.
When
she
started gaining weight and feeling stronger, she started to
play
outside
with her friends: Cindy, Kunti, and Joshua. Little Olga is
very
spoiled
from all that loving. She still has to gain confidence in
order
walk
around outside of the office. She likes to hold a towel and
big
macaranga, gigantean leaves.
In the
beginning of 2000, Wanariset got a new play
ground for young
orangutans. The new playground is wider and equipped with
several
toys
for behavioural enrichment. This is a great aid in helping
the
babies
to learn to climb, play and swing. They are under careful
and
caring
supervision each day during these play sessions.
These
young orangutans are making rapid progress.
They are learning to
climb the trees, swing from tree to tree, make nests, or
just
play with
their friends in the playground. Olga is a bit shy and a
little
spoiled
so the baby sitters teach and train her very patiently. All
the
baby
sitter's efforts are paying off because after three months
Olga
was
starting to climb trees too. After long, patient hours of
hard
work
from the baby sitters, funny little Olga finally likes
climbing
trees
and playing with her friends in the playground.
She also
likes to play with water at the water pump
in the middle of the
playground. She has a good memory and she can show the
technicians
how
to pull the handle on the pump.
Olga's
progress is very good. Physically, she grows
bigger each day.
Because she is making such good progress, the medics took
her
to the
Re-introduction and pre-socialization cage. In the
Pre-socialization
Cage, Olga has fun with all the other young orangutans. She
is
very
cute and funny. Her hair is beginning to look pretty and
grow
longer
now. When she looks at you, her funny, round eyes are not
easy
to
forget.
Once
again, thank you all for your generous contributions.
We had hoped to be able to go to Balikpapan for the Hadj and
visit
"Baby Olga". We will keep you updated with photos of
"Olga".
