Shy Orangutan Shares Fruit with Friends

And on the edge of Bangamat Island, orangutans begin to gather on one of several feeding platforms. Food delivery comes daily. But it's just a supplement to the food these older orangutans forage for in the jungle on their own. Fina is becoming wilder and prefers to eat her booty in the trees. The three females are soon joined by 13-year-old Jaka, a big dominant male here on Bangamat Island, who uses his status to get the best seat at the table. In the wild, males live solitary lives and would never sit and eat with a group of females like this. These orangutans won't be fully grown adults till they're around 15 years old. But this peaceful food sharing is a testament to the bonds they forged growing up together as orphans. Rowo, another of the older females here, arrives and seems hesitant. But Jaka signals that she can join in. In the canopy above, female Karek doesn't seem happy to be left out of lunch. Her kiss squeaks may sound cute, but they're actually a sign of agitation. Jaka takes little notice, so Karek leaf-wipes her arms. It's a known sign of frustration for orangutans. Rescued when she was three and a half, Karek was too wild to go to jungle school, so she missed out on bonding with her island mates when she was younger. Now, she's reluctant to join the others on the platform. But this may not be a bad thing. The teknisis watch her closely. At each visit, they monitor the orangutans' behavior. Since 2012, over 250 orangutans have been chosen from these islands to be released back into protected areas of true wilderness. In the wild, arrive semi-solitary apes, unlike their highly social cousins, the chimpanzees. Adults rarely spend time together, unless they're mating or females who occasionally hang out with related females. Other pre-release students must figure out this specific hierarchy on their own, as they would in the wild after they leave their mothers. Karek, avoiding conflict, and opportunistic, shows that she's already on the right track. Rowo's still hungry. But she's got better table manners. She pulls the branch to her, like fruit kebab sticks she learned to forage with in jungle school. The teknisis' observations of these orangutans will help determine who will be chosen next to be released into the wild.