Monti knows a thing or two about what Anggun is going through.
Monti was just 6-months-old when the orphaned orangutan arrived at the International Rescue Animal rehabilitation centre in 2009. Rescue crews spent days tracking down Monti when forestry officers first alerted them to her plight.
Now, Monti is taking on a new role as surrogate mother to Anggun, another orphaned orangutan at the group’s rehabilitation centre in West Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo.
“After losing her mother, little Anggun was too young to be alone and in desperate need of a mother figure to guide her through the early stages of her life,” the organization wrote on Facebook. “And as a very smart orangutan, Monti has the potential to teach Anggun all the skills she would have learnt from the mother she lost.”
They are bonding quickly.
The facility first placed the pair beside each other before moving them into an enclosure together.
And then, they waited to see if Monti’s maternal instincts would kick in.
“We are pleased to say that Monti was quick to sweep this tiny baby into her loving arms and provide the comfort and care this baby was desperate for,” the group wrote.
“She is already teaching Anggun skills such as how to open a coconut or other enrichment,” the group added. “She always lets the baby eat and drink first and finds ways to calm her when she cries.”
The pair is being kept in a smaller enclosure while they get used to each other and for veterinarians to monitor them.
They are also being given enrichment activities and places to climb as well as hammocks and tire swings, the centre explained.
Love is love.
It also gives reason to be optimistic for the critically endangered species in Indonesia.
“After suffering the sad loss of their own mothers, both orangutans seem to be deriving great comfort from the special relationship growing between them and it gives us great hope for their future together,” the rescue group said.
