Our foster parents will be delighted to hear that Crystal is thriving. Full of vitality and verve, she has truly blossomed throughout the year. Life is for enjoying, and Crystal clearly got the memo.

Name a fruit and the likelihood is that Crystal likes it. Crystal knows exactly what she wants and can be quite demanding for food and snacks. She isn’t averse to crying or “turning on the waterworks” if she doesn’t get her own way. Speaking of water, Crystal still loves a splash around as well. Crystal’s caregivers fondly describe her as “a beautiful child.” Her hair may not be as long as it once was, but Crystal still loves visiting the forest version of the salon for a hair wash – namely the pools and puddles around the infant camp.

Always on the go, active little Crystal can happily entertain herself and engages everything she encounters with a loquacious curiosity. She loves enrichment of all kinds and is remarkably adept at using tools, such as a stick, to retrieve the treasures hidden inside a rattan ball. She applies her brain and brawn in equal measure. Without wishing to anthropomorphise her, Crystal does seem to share a familiar childhood trait: much like a child at Christmas, who is more captivated by the box than the gift inside, she often finds the enrichment basket itself far more fascinating than its contents. The wicker basket carried by the enrichment team can keep her entertained for hours, as she plays with and often tries to dismantle it.

Crystal’s enthusiastic play can sometimes be a little rough for some of the younger orangutans like Nata and Boxer, but her best friend and enclosure companion, Vida, is her match. The pair have recently moved into a larger sleeping enclosure, giving them both more room to manoeuvre and play together.

Crystal is very independent, but this has its limits. Crystal still enjoys the comforting surroundings of the playground but on occasion feels brave enough to venture further out into the Learning Forest, if only for a short while. She likes to keep her caregivers in sight, especially her surrogate mother Ibu Eteng. She still has much growing up to do and we look forward to seeing what life and Crystal have to offer us next.

Click here to download Crystal’s August 2026 Foster Update