The Stories
“When we decided to go to see orangutans in the wild, we didn’t hold particular perception of the orange apes.”
“We mustn’t allow ourselves to be duped or succumb to a cognitive dissonance whereby we just switch off from it. We have to care because ultimately it will all come back to us.”
We mustn’t allow ourselves to be duped or succumb to a cognitive dissonance whereby we just switch off from it. We have to care because ultimately it will all come back to us.
“Donny became part of the family… eating human food, drinking tea, my grandma even dressed him in kids clothes so he wouldn’t get cold. We all slept in the same bed, huddled together…”
The area sold its land to the palm oil companies and the village was devastated by the river mining nearby… It’s so sad to see that I don’t want to even stay one night there.
“We try to encourage people to care about orangutans, but it’s very difficult when they’ve grown up in different environments and have a different awareness.”
Rica is also very sensitive toward my feelings, what I like, and what I don’t. Her child Ricardo would steal my clothes from the washing line and play with them, and even though I never scolded him or taught her to, Rica would always return them back to me.
“We came back to find the orangutan holding the saw, drawing it back and forth over the wood, just like we had been doing.”
Princess was probably the smartest of all. When she was around, you couldn’t tie the canoe to the river bank because she would steal it and paddle it away.
“We were all afraid of the mythical Kandar, a decrepit orangutan that has decayed into a soulless ghoul, like the walking dead.The elders warned us not to stray too far into the forest.”
We were all afraid of the mythical Kandar, a decrepit orangutan that has decayed into a soulless ghoul, like the walking dead, staggering around looking for people to devour. The elders warned us not to stray too far into the forest.
Did you know…?
Some of the most intriguing facts we learned about orangutans.
