“Queen” Kobe continues to reign supreme over the forest during her daily play time! Little Kobe relishes her time in the forest to play and forage for tasty leaves. Already she knows the leaves she likes and which trees also have local forest fruit. Kobe loves to climb up into the trees and explore and play, often preferring to be by herself in the forest. As a little “Miss Independent” she is not afraid to be alone in the forest, even though some orangutans of her age are reluctant to leave their caregivers or the nursery playground. Kobe is in her element in the trees. Each morning she shows her enthusiasm for tree climbing by “diving” into the forest. She far prefers to be in the trees than playing in the infant playground. Without a doubt, Charlie is her best friend and these two spend a lot of time together in their sleeping enclosure at night. Yet Kobe still prefers to spend her forest time by herself, exploring and playing in the trees around the infant playground while Charlie sticks more to the ground.
With the onset of the wet season, the rains have arrived in Kalimantan so Kobe is able to indulge in one of her favourite activities: playing in mud puddles. Kobe loves nothing more than playing in the puddles of water that form on the forest floor after a night of heavy rain. Here she can stamp and splash to her heart’s content, becoming completely covered in the dark brown mud. Sometimes she will stand up with her arms above her head, stamping her feet in the puddle almost as if making a nest. Other times Kobe will sit in the puddle with her hands in front splashing and clapping in the water. Kobe appears mesmerized by the water as she sits with her eyes transfixed on the shapes the water forms when she moves her hands. Good friend Charlie often will come and play in the puddle too although, if he takes up too much of the puddle, Kobe will push him aside. She wants to have the puddle all to herself.
With Kobe’s love of the forest she is often reluctant to leave each afternoon. In fact, Kobe has become so resistant to returning to her sleeping enclosure that she will refuse to come down from the trees. Each afternoon one of her caregivers will have to climb up into a tree with a tasty snack of rambutan fruit to tempt her to come down. She always comes down in the end, but waits for her caregivers to climb up.
Kobe is growing in independence daily and her deep love for the forest is evident. As Kobe grows older she will learn more and more about the forest and will one day permanently return to the forest she loves so much. For now, she is still a small infant orangutan learning new things and reliant on her dedicated caregivers to provide the comfort and support she needs.