Delicate Carmen, when housed inside her sleeping enclosure appears shy and coy. Her friend, Maue Kay, hugs her close as the door is opened for another day’s forest excursion. After a brief pause they both scramble into action. Carmen gracefully emerges and is totally serene as she hits the playground. She quickly covers well traversed terrain on the playground ropes and swings before moving off into the Learning Forest. Carmen will head to her favourite spots, where vines hang down invitingly. Here she uses the vines to stretch out all four of her limbs as far out as she can. From here, like a keeper atop a lighthouse, she can observe the goings on beneath her. She turns this way and that, ensuring everything is as she left it.
Carmen doesn’t just wait around for things to happen. Her natural curiosity implores her to leave the familiar behind and explore. Alongside her friends, Maue Kay and Santa Claus, Carmen works her way through the brush and swamp, travelling deep into the heart of the forest. Here she comes across something a little different – the jambutan (Indonesian for boardwalk or bridge). These are the highways (for humans) of the Care Centre. Carmen will happily swing back and forth observing this area before a thorough investigation ensues. Leaves and twigs gently fall to the Earth as she sorts her way through them, combing the trees in search of young leaves. Orangutan Vytas, bursting full of energy, often heads over to Carmen but she finds he cramps her style and so moves on to the next tree. Carmen is not one to idly complain – she takes action. In this way she steadily litters the whole boardwalk with a trail of debris so, like Hansel and Gretel leaving behind a trail of breadcrumbs, Carmen is not hard to keep a track of.
Carmen is not to be underestimated, however. She isn’t interested in taking the limelight, but she is a self-assured and positive orangutan. We eagerly wait to see what she will have in store for us during the coming months.
Click here to download Carmen’s February 2019 Foster Kit
