Life has settled into a nice little routine for Holland. Her daily visits to forest school start with Holland navigating down a well-trodden path to her favourite stand of trees. As ever she has to bring one of her caregivers along as an escort, gently guiding them by the hand, before she takes off into the trees. Holland slowly and methodically climbs up, stopping to pop some fruits into her mouth as she does so. Orangutans have amazing memories for fruits, usually having hundreds to choose from in the wild, so the more she can sample, the better. Holland is in no hurry as she reaches the top of the canopy and she perches on the top as if it is a watch tower.

Holland maintains a cool and calm approach to life unlike some of her playmates. Male orangutan Otan pursues Holland up the tree with his flailing arms and legs shaking the whole tree. It looks like Holland’s tranquil area is about to become a hive of chaos. Holland appears to be stuck with nowhere to go. The other trees seem too far away, but Holland uses the momentum of Otan’s shaking tree to swing over and then reach for the branches near her. The branches sway to her command and she glides effortlessly through the air to the next tree and to refuge.  She continues moving among the tree tops and is content to be in the canopy for one or even two hours before she considers coming down. Up in the treetops she can observe the whole Camp Danielle area from this vantage point.

Lately Holland has been happy with her own company but offers help to others when needed. Sporadically the other infants journey over to her bit of forest. As Holland moves from one tree to another, Holland allows them to use her as a bridge. She stretches out, pulling branches over to her and waits until her playmates have crossed before making the journey herself. Just as her caregivers gave her a helping hand, Holland now passes it along. Her independence coupled with her innate compassion towards others is amazing. This is an encouraging sign towards her rehabilitation as orangutans in general lead semi solitary lives.

A little bit of rain doesn’t dampen her spirits either. Even though orangutans live in the tropical rainforest, older orangutans don’t like to get wet, but the infants see this as a fantastic opportunity for play. Some cover their heads with large leaves but all Holland needs is a hand over her eyes so she can see what she is doing as she grabs leaves and shoots to splash around.

When Holland is back in her sleeping enclosure it is obvious she is dreaming of being back in among the trees. She squeals excitedly whenever it is time to go to the Learning Forest and squeals not so excitedly when it is time to come back.

It will be a while yet, but we look forward to making her dreams come true. Until then we all get to enjoy joining her on her journey where ultimately, she will be free to make her home in the great forests.

Click here to download Holland’s February 2020 Foster Update