Dewa is always active in his sleeping enclosure, which he shares with his best friend Ari. Dewa and Ari are full of energy, constantly wrestling on the enclosure floor, with playtime only errupted when someone walks past. Then they both stop and stick their arms out, trying to charm their way into whatever is on offer. But as soon as a treat is given they go straight back to wrestling, rying to get a piece of each other’s treat. This energy transcends to his day releases in the forest where he can be quite a handful at times.

Entering what you might call the “teenage” stage of his life, Dewa is going through some changes. His quiet personality of a year ago is changing in to that of quite a feisty orangutan who throws his weight around when he gets the chance. With hormones kicking in, he wants everyone to know he should be the boss. But Dewa still has calm periods, as he climbs and sits in trees eating fruit. In some of the more densely vegetated parts of the forest he loves to climb to the very top of trees and lie on his back in a strong patch of leaves, basking in the sun whilst slowly picking at fruits and leaves within his reach. What a life! However this calmness can be easily disrupted. If there is a commotion on the ground Dewa will sit up and poke his head through the leaves to see what is going on below. If other orangutans are wrestling on the ground he quickly descends from the trees to be a part of it, just to remind his playmates of his push to be the boss of the OFI enrichment forest.

The behaviour he displays delights the caregivers as it shows evidence he has overcome the dark period where he suffered severely from depression. The transformation he has made over the last two years has been amazing. One can only hope that he continues this progress so that he can return to the wild where he belongs.