Dora

Dora April 2015

Dora continues to do well at the release site in Bukit Tigapuluh. She is still best friends with Jecky Chan and they greatly enjoy their time at forest school together as well as when they are in their pre-release cage.

Dora greatly enjoys all of the different enrichment items given to them in the cage. She is very good at ‘fishing’ for treats. The keeper will put pieces of fruit outside of the cage and out of Dora’s arms reach. He isn’t teasing Dora though. He will then give Dora a stick and she will use the stick to retrieve the piece of food. She knows exactly which way to hold the stick and which angle to push the food to bring it towards her. To challenge Dora further, the keeper will provide more difficult fishing tasks such as a whole tomato. Being round, if Dora is not careful the tomato will roll away and off the platform if she does not plan her fishing carefully. As the toughest challenge, corn kernals will be provided for fishing. These take the longest to retrieve but Dora will fish for every last one. Other enrichment provided includes food treats hidden in hanging balls and stuffed into lengths of fire hose with leaves. Enrichment like this keeps Dora and the other orangutans busy and prevents boredom which is very important.

Dora still loves going out to forest school with Jecky Chan. They explore and forage in the canopy and then have rest during the hottest part of the day. She still needs to improve her nest building but she is doing very well overall with her forest skills. 

November 2014

Dora has made excellent progress over the last six months and is doing very well at forest school. Four year old Dora is always excited to leave her night cage and head into the forest. Dora spends a lot of her time at forest school with a seven year old orangutan named Jeky Chan. They will explore the forest and search for forest fruits together. Dora adores semantung fruits. These fruits are quite sour but Dora loves them and pops them in her mouth one by one while sitting calmly on a branch, observing the scenery around her. After gorging on fruits, Dora will then take a nap.

Dora is a quick climber and is travelling higher into the canopy now. When it is time for Dora to return to her night cage she will rip off some young leaves to take with her so she can snack on them while her carer carries her back to the night cage. Recently, Dora refused to come down to her carer at the end of the day and chose to stay overnight in her nest in the forest. This was very positive that Dora wanted to stay in the forest. The next morning her carer went to collect her at dawn to take her back to the cage. Dora ate a large breakfast and then slept till 4pm in the cage! Everyone was quite worried about her- obviously she was exhausted from her new experience.

Dora isn’t very good at building nests however she is still young. During forest school and in the cages she is being motivated by the staff to build nests by giving her lots of leaves and branches.

Earlier this year, Dora had a small tumour removed during surgery. The site has healed well and there are no signs of any other tumours. 

Dora was confiscated from a Buddhist monastery in Tebing Tinggi, a small town two hours from Medan, Sumatra. She is originally from Kuala Simpang, Aceh. She was sold to the monastery when she was about 1.5 years old. Dora was voluntarily handed into SOCP in August 2011 when she was three years old. She was taken to the Batu Mbelin Orangutan Quarantine Centre and weighed approximately 8kg. She was quite tame and familiar with humans.

Dora settled in well at the quarantine centre. She had a good appetite and was interested in the other orangutans. She learnt to use leaves to make a nest and would take afternoon naps in her hammock. When she moved to the socialization cage she interacted and played with the other orangutans. Dora was a gentle orangutan and also liked the company of the technicians since she was used to human company. Dora put on weight and her hair became darker during her time at Batu Mbelin. She was an energetic orangutan, playing on the climbing apparatus, other orangutans and she also liked to play with water. After spending almost two years at Batu Mbelin, she was transferred to the orangutan reintroduction centre in Bukit Tigapuluh, Jambi in April 2013.

Dora is now five years old. She is currently residing at the Dano Alo Sanctuary at Bukit Tigapuluh where she is being trained for release back into the wild. Dora is housed in socialisation cages at BTP. The orangutans are given many feeds and enrichment to undertake during the day to keep them mentally and physically active. Enrichment items include various feeding puzzles, leaf parcels, fishing activities and a range of forest food including fruits, leaves and termites.

Dora undergoes regular forest school training in the Bukit Tigapuluh forest. Dora is going very well at forest school. Her wild diet during forest school includes over 70% fruit which is excellent. Fruit contains lots of energy so it is imperative that wild orangutans gorge on fruit when they can during the fruiting season to put on body condition. Dora is also eating other forest food including leaves and insects which are a good source of protein. She will also receive some supplement food from the technicians while she is learning.

Dora is a very active and energetic orangutan and this is obvious in her forest school outings. She spends over 80% of her time feeding and travelling and only has short rest periods. Dora is also friendly and playful with the other orangutans.

Dora must learn to make sleeping nests when she is at forest school. It is hoped that she will learn this important skill from other orangutans in her forest school outings and also when the orangutans are given large leaves and stems in the cage to make nests. Orangutans will only be released when they can prove they are able to make good, stable nests in the canopy and not come down to the ground. Orangutans must sleep in arboreal nests to avoid parasites and predators on the ground.