Although sweet little Carmen is still in the infant orangutan nursery, she is growing up fast! Carmen is emotionally mature for her age and already shows signs of increasing independence with each daily release. Unlike other infants who stick close to their adopted ‘mothers’ (the caregivers), Carmen isn’t afraid to wander outside the boundaries of the playground and to climb up into the adjacent trees. Although Carmen is somewhat afraid of going too far into the forest by herself, she is still one of the most adventurous infants. Carmen loves to climb to the highest heights available in the forest canopy and to remain there, active all the while.
Rather than engaging in play-wrestling sessions with fellow age group infants or in tickling sessions with caregivers, Carmen prefers to be above the chaos, observing everything and everyone. But Carmen presents a sweet orangutan paradox. While she loves to explore independently in the forest, she’s also very social and interactive with other infants at night in the sleeping enclosure. There Carmen has many friends and can often be found curled up and asleep with Ben, Larry, and Ray during the night.
Carmen is very much adored by the care-giving team at the infant facility because she’s quiet, and very endearing. Also, Carmen is not a fussy eater and loves all fruit including oranges and pineapple. While Carmen forages for forest fruits like jambu (guava) in trees growing next to the playground, she is not as fond of the various leaves and plants in the forest.
We are excited to keep following Carmen’s adventures as she continues to become more independent and ventures further and further into the nursery forest learning how to live as a wild orangutan again! We applaud Carmen’s sweet and vulnerable but independent nature, so typical of many orangutan infants. We know Carmen’s charm will endure and assume that her independence increases as she gets older and eventually returns to the forest that is her birthright.