Ruby Grimshaw gets sage advice on orangutans

“Do you think we are going to really be with the orangutans?” asked my friend L. “Or are we just going to be watching them from a distance?”

I got out all the information I had been sent by the Orangutan Foundation for our forthcoming holiday with them and began to read out to her their list of advice.

The instructions included not initiating contact with an orangutan and to retreat slowly and with dignity if they approached.

(I find dignity is something which gets more difficult to retain as you get older.) If an animal did grab hold of one and it was uncomfortable (painful?) then one must remain calm, not make sudden movement and wait patiently for assistance.

It has been known for orangutans to bite. But, I say to L with forced optimism, since we will be covered by our rabies injections this should not be too worrying.

Wearing dangly earrings should be avoided, and water bottles and plastic bags kept in one’s backpack. If an orangutan did snatch something, it should be allowed to keep it because it is never worth arguing. An orangutan is extremely strong.

Negotiations would be initiated later by an assistant. (I imagine this would go something along the lines of “Here’s a lovely banana which we can swap for
the camera/member of the group which you are dragging along behind you.”)
One should learn to recognise the male orangutan. They are much larger in size, have beards and large cheek pads.

Menstruating women should be particularly careful around them if they do not wish to be forcibly examined. It is unwise to stand between a male and a female orangutan, or a female and her infant, and never get between any orangutan and food.

Finally one is reminded that these ex-captive orangutans are less afraid of humans than wild ones and if on the rare occasion a male one charges, run as fast as you can.

At this point L said she had heard enough and was satisfied that we would be as near to the orangutans as she wanted.

“I haven’t told you about the snakes yet,” I said. “What snakes?” L sounded a little tired.

“Poisonous snakes include cobra, krait and Malaysian pit viper,” I read. “They are very rare in the forest but care should be taken when sitting on hollow logs.”

But L had already put the phone down.