Kobe is ‘Little Miss Independent’ and loves her time to explore and play in the forest. This little orangutan sure knows what she wants and goes for it. Kobe very much enjoys exploring the OFI Nursery Forest and often prefers to do so alone. Each morning as her caregiver carries her out to the forest, Kobe is squirming in her impatience to dive into the forest. Some orangutans of the same age are apprehensive to be left alone in the forest, but not Kobe. In fact, Kobe immediately leaves for the trees, with no desire to play with her friends in the infant playground. She is a surprisingly independent young orangutan. While climbing high in the trees, she will often find an old nest, lay back and gaze up at the sky. This is Kobe’s moment of solitude and she relishes it. As she lays back in the trees, Kobe’s orange hair lights up like a gold halo around her, shimmering in the equatorial sun.
Kobe might love her independence, but she also enjoys spending occasional time with her peers. Kobe doesn’t like to come down to the forest floor too much, but will play a game of follow the leader in the trees. With her knowledge of the forest, Kobe can show friends Charlie, Ryan, and Mabel the best leaves to snack on. Kobe also encourages her peers to climb higher into the trees with her. Kobe’s love of the forest is unmistakable and she will spend as long as she can in the trees each day. This means that Kobe’s caregivers often have to start trying to coax her down from the trees first before they attend to her peers. Kobe will usually move away from her caregivers and initially refuse to come down from the canopy. Eventually she will give in and come down, but she gazes longingly at the trees as she is carried back to her sleeping enclosure.
As Kobe grows older she will learn more about the forest she enjoys so much and, with her independent streak, will explore even more than she does now.