Mary has grown in strength and developed her forest skills further over the past six months. Jungle School had to be temporarily paused in July and August due to COVID-19 being prevalent in the nearby community. The staff at BORA adhered to very strict protocols and stayed at the BORA rescue centre for two weeks at a time while they cared for the orangutans, so they were not exposed to the risk of COVID-19 in the community. All staff had to have a negative COVID-19 test before entering the rescue centre.
In early September, Mary had the first opportunity to go to Jungle School again with Happi and Popi. Mary seemed very excited to be back outside and able to play with Happi who lives in a different enclosure. They chased each other from tree to tree and even wrestled on the ground as you can see in this adorable video. Mary and Happi are the same age and the keepers loved watching them play together and enjoy their time back in the forest.
Mary has shown good climbing and nest building skills since she arrived at our BORA rescue centre in February 2019. It was obvious that little Mary had learned these skills from her mother, and she did not like humans. She chose to keep by herself and arranged the leaves and branches that were given to her in her transport crate. Mary has grown and put on some weight. She used to often suffer from colds and look quite frail however her health has greatly improved, and she now rarely gets sick.
Mary has a good appetite and is very active and agile at Jungle School. Mary looks stronger and is also much braver now when playing with other orangutans. She will wrestle and chase other orangutans and greatly enjoys Jungle School. Mary is a role model to other orangutans at Jungle School as they watch and learn from her in the forest which is wonderful. Well done Mary!
