Alone, clinging onto a handful of Rasau leaves on the riverbank, an infant orangutan would have little chance of survival.

This was the situation for wild orangutan Sinta earlier this year when she happened to be spotted in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve by a local fisherman passing by. With her mother nowhere in sight, Sinta was in desperate need of a lifeline and was therefore taken into the care of Orangutan Foundation staff at Camp Buluh.

Since her timely rescue, Sinta has gone from strength to strength in our soft-release programme. The tiny trembling infant we had discovered just a few months ago has now built up muscle from her diet of fresh fruit and our team are thrilled to see that she is already demonstrating her wild side.

In her overnight enclosure, Sinta isn’t content to simply lay in the browse provided, but actively practices her nest-making skills by bending the leaves into shape. She also continues this behaviour on her daily visits to the forest by climbing to the top of a small tree and breaking the branches to form a rudimentary nest. This simple act may seem straightforward to us, but it is in fact a giant step for such a young orangutan. It indicates that from the brief period Sinta spent with her mother before separation, she has clearly observed and learnt this essential forest skill. Such cognitive understanding from an animal so young!

It’s impossible to know exactly how old Sinta truly is, but by closely inspecting her teeth we can get an accurate estimation of her age. For our team this is easier said than done as her wild instincts can make examining Sinta quite tricky, but from a recent observation she’s estimated to be roughly 18 months old.

Rarely before have our team received such a young orphaned orangutan into their care, but from Sinta’s brief time in the wild, she at least has a head start on some of our previous soft-release graduates. With fellow orphan Nyunyu also learning the ropes at Camp Buluh, Sinta even has a fellow classmate to play with, learn from, and gain more confidence in the trees.

We will continue to give Sinta the best opportunity to practice her natural abilities in our soft-release programme. Her small stature and inexperience in the wild means that she still has a long way to go, but we’re certain that one day Sinta will be ready to venture out into the forest unaccompanied.