Orang-Utan-Dama saves baby friend: a jungle miracle!

Orang-Utan-Dama saves baby friend: a jungle miracle!

In the jungle of Borneo, a heart-abrading story occurs that impressively illuminates the bond of friendship under Orang-Utans. An orangutan female called you, which was once saved from Thailand, not only gave birth to her own baby, but also adopted the daughter of her late best friend. This remarkable act shows that the behavior of animals often has deeper emotional roots than many people accept. The babysitter Mama Eva, who works for the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation, was impressed: "It was absolutely new to me that one orangutan takes care of the baby someone else as if it were her own."

The story begins with you, which was snatched out as the newborn of her mother and illegally smuggled to Thailand. After years in an amusement park, she was brought back to Borneo together with 47 other Orangutans in 2006, but could no longer be released into the wilderness due to her age. The experts from BOS report that you were fit and clever, which is why she was allowed to move onto a preliminary reinforcement island shortly after her quarantine.

The tragic turn

There you gave birth to her first daughter Dea about three years after her return, which was later released into the Baka Baka Bukit Raya National Park. Two other children followed: Dinda, born in 2016, and son Dai, who saw the light of day in October 2022. At that time, her close girlfriend Melata gave birth to a baby, the little dumel, after she had to suffer several tragedies in the past, including the death of two other children shortly after birth. But the story was tragic when Melata disappeared without a trace in February 2023 while holding her daughter Dumel in her arms.

After the disappearance of Melata, Dumel was spotted by a male orangutan, which put the surroundings into the alarm. These strange circumstances led you to suddenly as if it were the most natural thing in the world that Dumel wore on the chest next to her own son Dai and protected her from the attacking males. Mama Eva described this act as "heart heating" because you, who maintained a close relationship with Melata, hugged the child of her late girlfriend to the fullest.

challenges in orangutan life

Nevertheless, the rearing of orangutan babies should not be underestimated. Twin births are extremely rare in this species because they only get offspring every six to eight years. Therefore, raising it only becomes a difficult task. The fact that you now have additional responsibility for Dumel makes the situation particularly challenging. In order to support you and the two little ones, the animals were temporarily brought back to the Nyaru Menteng rescue center in order to be better cared for there. At a time when loss and grief are present in the animal world, this story also offers a glimmer of hope and shows the impressive social skills of orangutans and its ability to feel love and care beyond their own youngsters.