The only way is up
Do you miss cheeky Valentino? He is eagerly tackling his final steps to freedom on a pre-release island. But he still has a lot to learn. Find out how his island life has been going. Valentino,... View Article
News - Orangutan Behaviour
News - Orangutan Behaviour
Orangutan Party
Orangutans are fascinating to observe. If you pay attention closely, you will uncover a world of exciting behaviours and interactions. For example, when several individuals come together and form a so-called ‘party’. Our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM)... View Article
Kimi crashes observations
Observing orangutans involves collecting data on their behavioural development and physical health. Sometimes, this can be tricky, as we have experienced with Desi on Juq Kehje Swen, a pre-release island she shares with Kimi, a wild... View Article
Bong and Hamzah – Part 2
Two weeks ago, we reported that Hamzah sadly had to part ways with Bong, who we had to transfer to Muara Soh. After we moved Bong, Hamzah appeared displeased, and he disappeared into the forest as... View Article
Bong and Hamzah – Part 1
It was early in the morning when our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) team at Camp Lesik, in the Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan, set out to capture Bong. The female orangutan, whom we released five years ago,... View Article
Forest School trio is thriving
It is always interesting to look at the progress young orangutans make along their rehabilitation journey at our Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. This time, let’s find out what Paulinus, Christina and Monita, the newest members... View Article
Romance in the rain
‘Crack!’, went the sound of a broken twig, stopping our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) team from Camp Nles Mamse in the Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan, in their tracks! Tasked with observing and collecting data on the... View Article
Learning the ropes of observation
At our orangutan release sites and on our pre-release islands, the BOS Foundation employs special monitoring teams. They conduct regular observations and collect data on how released orangutans are adjusting to their new environment. The data... View Article
Family party
Recently, our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) team from Nles Mamse Camp, in the Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan, spotted three orangutans building nests only a few minutes’ hike from camp. What makes it so unique: It was... View Article
Desi’s wild encounter
When our Post Release Monitoring team recently observed female orangutan Desi, they made an exciting discovery. Desi is currently the only rehabilitated orangutan living on the pre-release island of Juq Kehje Swen in East Kalimantan. The... View Article
Playdate in the jungle
What a day for our Post Release Monitoring (PRM) team! During their regular observations in the forest, they recently spotted three mother-infant pairs in one spot: Lesan and her daughter Ayu, Sayang and her daughter Padma,... View Article
Jungle looks
We have stunning new images right out of the Bornean rainforest for you. These snapshots are not just valuable insights into the life of our released orangutans, they are also evidence of the abundance of species... View Article
Another Baby!
The ultimate goal of all of BOS Foundation’s reintroduction efforts is to establish populations of orangutans who are self-sufficient, have babies and raise them to independence. Therefore, the best marker of success for us is when... View Article
Desi learns from the best
The BOS Foundation’s RHO Program team stationed at the Juq Kehje Swen Pre-Release Island in East Kalimantan conducts regular patrols to secure the island and collects observational data on orangutans. The individuals placed on the island... View Article
Mardianto’s 15-Year-Challenge
You might have seen the #10YearChallenge on social media, where people upload two photos of themselves, taken ten years apart. The ‘challenge’ typically highlights just how much an individual’s appearance has, or has not, changed over... View Article
Malika and the strange noise
Orangutans, much like their human relatives, each have their own unique personality. Some are friendly and have a playful character, while others are more serious or aloof and like to be left alone. Malika, a 5-year-old... View Article
Rachel’s brave steps towards independence
Orangutans acquire many important skills throughout the rehabilitation process. They must learn how to identify trees, climb them, and build nests in them, in addition to the very foundational skills of how to forage for food... View Article
An itchy welcome
For the human surrogate mothers at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, the moment a young orangutan progresses to a more advanced Forest School group is an occasion to celebrate. This promotion occurs whenever an orangutan... View Article
Strong alone
If you’ve ever watched recordings of gorillas, chimpanzees, long-tailed macaques, langurs, gibbons, or proboscis monkeys, you would have seen them gathered in groups, exploring their surroundings or foraging for food together. Orangutans follow a completely different... View Article
Leaders of the pack
“Yooo! Buah, yooo!”, it resounds through our Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Central Kalimantan every morning around 8 o’clock. It is the call of the surrogate mothers to signal the little students in their enclosures... View Article
Napri, the loner
Orangutans, much like their human relatives, each have their own unique personalities. At our Nyaru Menteng Forest School in Central Kalimantan, we have class clowns, social butterflies, and we have quiet orangutans, who prefer to spend... View Article
Meryl’s special gift
In Forest School, orangutans form close bonds with their surrogate mothers, especially the littlies in the Nursery Group. They will even sleep in the company of their babysitters, who cater to the youngsters’ needs around the... View Article
The problem-solving ape: what makes orangutans special and why they are threatened
18 December 2010
What makes orangutans special and why they are threatened. Part 1 of an interview with Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust.
Reflections on a year of following and photographing orangutans
3 February 2015
After spending a year studying orangutans with NG Explorer Dr. Cheryl Knott, Robert Rodriguez Suro is returning to Indonesia to commence his own National Geographic Young Explorers Grant project.
The human age: The world shaped by us
20 September 2014
On a blue-sky day at the Toronto zoo, flocks of children squired by teachers and parents mingle excitedly between exhibits.
Orangutans plot out travel plans a day in advance: Study
11 September 2013
It's the ape equivalent of Google Maps and Facebook. The night before a big trip, Arno the orangutan plots his journey and lets others know where he is going with a long, whooping call.
Great apes can have a mid-life crisis too
19 November 2012
They may not take up surfing or start second careers as cupcake-makers, but chimpanzees and orangutans seem to go through a ‘mid-life crisis’, just like humans.
Orangutan nest-building shows high degree of sophistication
17 April 2012
Orangutans may be smarter than previously thought if a new study into the sophisticated way they build nests is any indication.
Orangutans supplement diet with loris
18 January 2012
When fruit is scarce, try chomping on a slow loris. That seems to be the strategy adopted by the normally vegetarian orang-utans, which have been spotted knocking the small primates out of trees and killing them with a bite to the head.
Orangutan culture develops like human culture
24 October 2011
A team of anthropologists have shown that orangutans may have the ability to learn socially and pass these lessons down through generations — evidence that culture in humans and great apes has the same evolutionary roots.
Orangutan washing itself with towel wows the web
23 August 2011
An orangutan from Japan is on its way to becoming a Web sensation after a video of the primate washing itself just like a human emerged online.
Orangutan rescues coot chick
17 June 2011
Footage of an orangutan apparently trying to revive a poorly coot chick has emerged online two years after the video was recorded.
Gone fishing, orangutan style
15 April 2011
Orangutans swim about as well as they fly, but research on three Indonesian islands shows that these long-limbed apes nonetheless catch and eat fish.
Genome sequenced: orangutan DNA more diverse than human’s
29 January 2011
Among great apes, orangutans are humans' most distant cousins. These tree dwellers sport a coat of fine reddish hair and have long been endangered in their native habitats in the rainforests of Sumatra and Bor
Teaching orangutans to be wild
18 December 2010
Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust, spoke with Laurel Neme on her "The WildLife" radio show and podcast about the process of rehabilitating orphaned orangutans and teaching them to be wild. This is the second in a two-part interview.
Island orangs descend from small group
24 November 2010
Bornean apes went through a genetic bottleneck during ancient glaciation.