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Rickina

Female , 10 years old

Adopt Rickina today

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About Rickina

Rickina has shown us her strength, wits and resilience ever since arriving at the sanctuary several years ago. She has made a huge impact in Forest School, teaching the younger orangutans survival skills and satisfying her hearty appetite with plenty of nutritious fruit. Despite having a small physique, she continues to be one of the more dominant females in the group and can often be found alone, high up in the trees. However, every now and then she still likes to hang out with Rocky, Marie, Anja and Onyo, her best friends.

There is still a long way to go for Rickina, there are some crucial skills that she still needs to learn. However, the team are very satisfied with the progress she has made so far and with your ongoing support, she is expected to continue to make positive steps forward on the road to rehabilitation and freedom.

Adopt Rickina today to receive regular exclusive updates and join her on her journey back to the wild.

Rickina's Story

Baby Rickina was handed over by a man who claimed to have encountered an adult female orangutan with her baby in the forest. He maintained that the mother was so startled that she abandoned the baby and ran away. This is likely to be untrue, for a mother orangutan will never leave her infant behind and will fight to the death to protect her baby from aggressors. Tragically, this is probably what happened to Rickina’s mother and her baby was wounded during the fatal attack. Fortunately for Rickina, the skin wound from the machete which she was suffering from on her head, was superficial and began to heal well, although it left a big scar.

Rickina with machete wound on head
Young Rickina

Rickina showed great improvement after arriving at the centre and became a very active and independent young orangutan. She completed her quarantine period and as the wound on her head had healed nicely she was introduced to the other babies in the baby school group. They were all very fascinated with her scar from the machete wound and wanted to inspect it closely. Rickina herself was a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, but began to enjoy being the centre of the party and became braver every day. She was a very sweet-natured orangutan, who had many play mates and even took to teaching the younger orangutans some of the skills she had learnt!

Rickina made some great friends in Joyce, Gunung, Noel and Rocky and they all climbed high in the trees and played on the hammocks and platforms provided. Rickina suffered a little setback with an injury to one of her arms, but she recovered quickly and was back playing with the other babies in no time! She was a strong and healthy little orangutan and slowly became more independent of Rocky, her best friend, although they would still cling to each other if they felt anxious. She had quite a feisty nature and would slap and nip anyone she disliked.

Rickina loved her food, especially rambutans and was always the first in line when food and treats were being given out. Her climbing improved and would often use the rubber ropes to bounce on before landing on one of her friends below. She mixed well with the other small orangutans and could be very easily spotted in the huddle due to her savage machete wound scar on her left temple, a legacy of her trauma before rescue. Despite being part of a double act with Rocky in Baby School, she progressed well and could often be seen making a temporary bid for freedom up a tree to practice her great climbing skills. She was very caring and would console and cuddle Rocky whenever he ran to her for security. She was happy to investigate everything, including new food which set a great example to all the other babies by eating her bayam and saw (greens).

Rickina eating a banana
Rickina and Rocky

Rickina began to develop a very long and lush hair coat, making her even more striking to look at! The time had come for her and her classmates to move up to Forest School where there were taller trees to explore and play in. She began possessing strong instincts and travelled high in the trees to forage in search of fruit, ants and termites. As Rocky grew in size, Rickina found his games to get a bit rough so preferred to play gently with Pelangi, Temon and Marie. Her and Marie became very close and began to play together, eat together and walk around together. If Rickina went somewhere, you could be sure to find Marie not far behind!

Rickina began to stay out in the forest all day and night which resulted in her nest making skills improving dramatically. She really loved the extra space to explore and was full of curiosity. When the vets performed their routine health checks, she liked to tease them and play with their clothes. When she was not up to mischief you could see her swinging confidently from tree to tree.

Although she was more than able to build her own nest, that didn’t stop her from sharing with Marie. She was always found high in the trees and exploring new territories, but you wouldn’t find her doing this on her own as if she found something interesting she would gather her friends and share it with them all. She became very protective of her friends and would get upset if any of them were being checked by the vets as she thought they were trying to hurt them.

Rickina was moved to Pulau Besar with several other orangutans; a vast island home where she was able to hone her survival skills in 64 acres of luscious, green, untouched forest. Once her skills had progressed, she was moved to Setrum Island where she began mixing with orangutans of various ages. This new environment was a bit more challenging, but she established her dominance within the group quickly. Her younger age didn’t seem to be a problem at all and she could be seen swinging around the forest with her new-found friends.

Rickina in a tree
Rickina in forest school

What you get?

Adopt Rickina today and you will receive:

  • A personalised certificate in recognition of your adoption
  • A high quality picture of Rickina to frame
  • An animal fact sheet with information on Rickina and orangutans as a whole
  • Exclusive news, photos and videos of your adopted animal sent via email and avaliable online
  • A soft plush orangutan toy (optional)
Rickina adoption pack