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Budi and Jemmi make new friends

27th April 2015

Budi and Jemmi were recently introduced to some of the other orangutans at baby school for the very first time! Our team has just sent over this fantastic footage and we’re delighted to be able to share it with you. 

It is amazing to see the way the other baby orangutans welcome Budi and Jemmi into the group. The first to come and greet Budi were the big boys, Anjas and Rocky. Vet nurse Chacha and keeper Hery kept close to make sure that the play didn’t get too rough for the little ones. It is normal in orangutan play situations to have lots of hair pulling and play biting and after just a few minutes Budi was giving as good as he was getting!

Joyce took a lot of interest in Budi and was very sweet and gentle with him. Budi really enjoyed getting dirty playing in the sand and climbing about on the tower! Jemmi on the other hand was very patient with all the attention, taking being prodded and poked by the inquisitive youngsters in his stride.

Being much younger, Jemmi soon tired out from all the attention and after fifteen minutes returned to Chacha to rest on her. At eight/nine months old, he would still be constantly clinging to his mother in the wild and he still needs to take regular naps. Budi lasted for over half an hour before he sought out the comfort and security of Chacha, they were then both returned to their own day enclosure, exhausted and sleepy.

Each of the orangutans in our care has a sad past and it brings us so much joy to see them all doing so well, caring for one another and playing together.

This was the first time at baby school for both Budi and Jemmi and was a one off visit to see how the two babies would cope. They’ll be paying more short visits in the weeks ahead until the vets and babysitters decide they’re ready to go to school full time. First though they need to build up their strength a little more to ensure they can keep up with the other older infants.

                                            We hope you enjoy this amazing footage: