Throughout September, Redi joined Forest School for around two full weeks. During the last week, he also started being monitored by Steven, a Forestry student from Tanjungpura University (UNTAN), who is doing research on “The daily behavior and daily interactions between orangutans within their group”. Steven will continue monitoring and recording Redi’s daily activities and interactions with the other group members until early November, so there will be enough data to get a better picture of their activity patterns and social interactions throughout the research period.

Overall, Redi looked good and pretty stable throughout September. There were no observations of him building or using a nest this month. His eating pattern was also pretty normal, with no major changes. And, as usual, when food is involved, Redi still tends to be the more dominant one compared to the other individuals. No health issues or unusual behaviors were noticed either. During Forest School, Redi was still active, spending a lot of time looking for food, moving around, and exploring his surroundings.

September in Sintang was also pretty dry, with a long stretch of dry weather. Some of the smaller trees in the forest were starting to dry out, so the vegetation was noticeably drier than usual. Towards the end of the month, though, we started getting some rain at night. The last few days have also been more cloudy, which has made the forest feel a little cooler and more comfortable compared to earlier in the month, especially after such a long hot and dry period.

One thing that stood out during the last week was Redi’s reaction to Steven. Since Steven was someone Redi had never really seen before, Redi seemed pretty curious about this new person around him. At one point, Redi even came down to the forest floor and got a little closer to where Steven was to check him out. It seemed more like simple curiosity about something new in his surroundings, and there was no aggressive or unusual behavior involved.

Besides Steven, there is also a female student doing research on Banir, focusing on “Interactions between young orangutans and keepers.” Banir is in the same group with Redi, so her research activities also take place around Redi and the rest of the group.

With both students doing their research, the orangutans in the group will continue to be monitored and their activities recorded until early November. This should give us some interesting extra information about their daily routines, interactions with each other, and how they respond to things happening around them.

Overall, Redi had a pretty normal September. He stayed active, continued foraging and exploring the forest, and his eating habits remained consistent. There were also no health concerns or unusual behaviors observed. His curiosity toward Steven was probably one of the most interesting things we noticed this month, while the rain and cloudy weather toward the end of September made the forest feel a little cooler and more comfortable than before.

Redi

Redi

Redi

Redi

Redi

Redi