Carmen’s adventurous nature has only intensified over the past six months. She is a strong climber and an excellent nest builder, the best among her peers!

During forest school, Carmen spends little time close to the ground but quickly makes her way up into the canopy. She spends most of her time high in the trees, enjoying the freedom of her movement to the fullest. With her newfound fondness for vines, it is not uncommon to see Carmen hanging upside down or from one foot, swinging as hard as she can from a vine. With her excellent co-ordination and fearless leaps, little Carmen is an acrobatic dare-devil. She loves to move fast, and jumps and swings from far greater distances than most of her peers. Many of her forest school classmates follow her around, aware that Carmen is an orangutan they can learn from. This form of imitation is also how orangutans learn in the wild, copying their mother and other orangutans.

Another of Carmen’s frequent activities at forest school is nest building. She is a talented nest-builder for her age and is dedicated to improving her nest-building skills. She knows the precise branches to use and she has developed her own technique of twisting and arranging branches into a tight nest. But when she has completed a nest, she only uses it for a few minutes. Why sleep when she can use the time to explore and learn!

Carmen is a good eater and especially loves milk and bananas. When the food is late (in her opinion) she will let her caregivers know by stamping her feet and crying. When she gets her food, she makes funny faces to show her satisfaction, rolling her eyes and folding her lips inward while making loud sucking noises.

Carmen particularly loves her primary caregiver Ibu Lapia, who describes Carmen as an excellent orangutan student and a fast learner with ample energy. However, Carmen is still shy around other people which will be of benefit to her in her process of rehabilitation. Once back in the wild, it’s always better to stay away from human strangers.

Her overall development has been great, and we are excited to see what she’ll learn next in the coming months.

Click here to download Carmen’s August 2017 Foster Update