You’d be hard-pressed to find a gentler, more mild-mannered orangutan than sweet Mabel. She is about as well behaved as they come. Sometimes her more energetic peers try to encourage Mabel to join in their wrestling matches but Mabel would rather hang out with calmer companions. She gets along best with her small but mighty clique of orangutan friends, that include Hoffman and Leona.
Even amongst the chaos of feeding time, Mabel is always a lady! She is delicate and deliberate with her food. But living with 10 other orangutans has taught her to be more assertive. When caregivers arrive with fruit and milk for the orangutan youngsters, Mabel is careful to hold her own. She is very smart, patiently waiting out all the others to push and shove their way to the food until she sees an opening. Then, with quiet speed, she grabs what she wants and sneaks off to enjoy her bounty away from the crowd.
When she is on release in OFI’s “forest school” Mabel’s behavior resembles that of a much older, more mature orangutan. She is quiet, distant, and mostly pre-occupied with finding fruit. Mabel has exceptional fruit finding skills for her age. Her eyes are constantly scanning the canopy for hidden forest treasures. When she climbs into the leafy cover of a low-hanging tree, you can watch her hands sifting through the branches and checking the underside of every leaf for small, ripening fruits.
Mabel relishes trying to discover seemingly every inch of the OFI forest playground. For a shy little girl, she is very independent! Many of her peers are scared to explore the forest on their own or be without their favourite companion, but Mabel doesn’t fuss with such trivial matters. She always heads into the forest by herself, seeming to already have her destinations in mind. Because of this independence, Mabel initially seems standoffish but she is far from it! Mabel is happy to have the company of a friend if one chooses to follow along. When caregivers or volunteers join her on forest expeditions, Mabel loves to hold hands or sit on their laps while happily snacking on forest fruits. She is easy company for both humans and orangutans. Mabel shows great skills on her releases to the forest.
She has a promising future and we look forward to watching her grow!