Jane Healy, Auckland Zoo
Today on World Orangutan Day we’re celebrating the Zoo’s Bornean orangutans – great apes who inspire so much wonder, joy and appreciation in our visitors and play such a powerful role as advocates for their species in the wild.
The fabulous whanau of four are adults Charlie (43) and Melur (36), their irrepressible two-year-old male offspring Bahmi and young female Daya (12) – who arrived last July from Ouwehands Zoo (The Netherlands) and has become Bahmi’s number one fan and playmate!
“Bahmi was totally intrigued and eager to play with Daya from the get-go,” says senior Primate keeper Jacqui. Initially while still shy, he was a bit like the annoying younger sibling to her, but that soon changed as Daya settled in and grew more comfortable and confident.
“Being young herself, Daya also has a playful energy, and together she and Bahmi have developed a great friendship. It’s very play based. Bahmi follows her everywhere, climbs all over her and is constantly encouraging rough and tumble. But there are times when the two of them will also just chill out quietly together (visitors might see them hanging out in one of the nests near the shared shelter viewing window). And he’s very sweet in the way that he loves to share his food with her,” says Jacqui.
Daya relocated to Auckland as part of an international zoo breeding and advocacy programme for this Critically Endangered great ape and once she matures, may breed with Charlie.
The Primate team have all observed her positive and unifying influence on Bahmi, Melur and Charlie as she has integrated with them. They are also quick to point out that as an exceptionally intelligent, cheeky, curious, and industrious orangutan who likes to test everything out - and has the patience to figure out how to disassemble things – she has kept everyone challenged and on their toes!
Primate keeper Grace, who has worked closely with Daya since she arrived, describes her as “a very clever, gentle, sensitive and strong-minded orangutan with loads of character and quirks who brings a young energy to the group”.
The team say Daya very quickly earned the trust of Melur who is very comfortable with her relationship with Bahmi and will happily leave him in her care. She and Daya now also groom each other, and she’s also slowly but surely building a relationship with Charlie, and that’s continuing to grow.
“We’re also really blown away with how Daya has so easily transitioned from understanding Dutch to understanding English terms in the training sessions we do with her, which she loves participating in. We can check her physical health by having her present different body parts, and she’s now also stepping onto scales so we can regularly weigh her,” says Grace.
Genetically over 97% similar to humans (and over eight times stronger!), orangutans are the world’s only truly arboreal great ape. In the rainforests and peat swamps of Borneo and Sumatra where they’re known as the ‘gardeners of the forest’, this sees them spend almost all of their time up in the trees where they learn to identify and feed on hundreds of different plant species.
It’s the illegal destruction of these brilliantly biodiverse and globally important carbon-rich ecosystems - primarily for the growing of palm oil (found in over 50% of all packaged supermarket products) that’s caused this species’ devastating decline.
“One of the best and easiest ways for everyone to help orangutans is to shop using our PalmOil Scan app, which is downloadable for free via the Apple or Google app store.” says Jacqui.
“Auckland Zoo helped develop this great app in partnership with the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums (WAZA) and our colleagues at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (USA) and Chester Zoo. It’s super easy to use and enables you to choose products from companies committed to sourcing Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).
“The more people use it, the more we can together help transform the palm oil industry. This will benefit not just orangutans, but thousands of other animal and plant species, forest-edge communities and ultimately all of us who need these vital carbon-rich forests that help regulate the global climate and support our own health and wellbeing.”
