Ever wondered what life is like for two orangutan besties? Well now is your chance to find out! Step into a day in the life of Asto and Asih, and see how your support is making their dreams come true!
Hi, we’re Asto and Asih, and we are the best of friends.
That’s us in the photo above, having the time of our lives at Jungle School. Can you guess who is who? We never like to look at the camera at the same time – it keeps everyone guessing!
We’re living at the SRA rescue centre in North Sumatra. As rescued and orphaned orangutans, we are working towards a life of jungle freedom. And you’re helping us! Your awesome support is giving us a second chance, and we are excited to share more about our lives with you.
Read on to see what a day looks like for us!
Jungle School Fun
Our favourite thing to do together is Jungle School! We head out most days to the jungle with our carers, spending time learning how to live like wild orangutans. We work on our forest survival skills, like building cosy nests, foraging for food and swinging through the canopy.
Jungle School is always in a different spot in the forest, and at a different time each day. Sometimes it’s warm and sunny, other times it can be pouring with rain and our hair goes frizzy! This helps us get used to all different conditions, so we can be strong and confident when we one day return to the wild!
Asih (left) and Asto (right) expertly swinging through the trees!
Snack Time
We absolutely love foraging for our own food in the forest. It’s like a fun game with an awesome reward! We look for wild fruits, young leaves and also bark. It’s how we spend most of our time at Jungle School – we are definitely foodies!
Because we’re still learning, our carers help us out with meals too. We really don't like it when they give us cabbage though – yuck! We also don’t love green beans too much either, but if we’re really hungry, we give them a go. But we LOVE carrots, tomatoes, papaya and watermelon! The more colourful and juicy the better, we say!
Swinging Through the Trees
Besides eating, we love to swing! We travel through the treetops together, always up really high too. Lately Asih has been a little more adventurous than me (Asto). She’s been leading the way into different trees, swinging with so much confidence! I don’t want to miss out on all the fun, so I’ve been carefully following along.
Fun and Games
It’s true, we can get a little bored sometimes when we need to be in our safe enclosure! That’s why our awesome carers help keep us entertained with lots of fun enrichment activities. They prop up ropes, balls and even branches and leaves that help us improve our skills and learn natural behaviours that will come in handy in the wild.
Because we are the best of friends, we are always close by. We do sometimes play on our own, but always find our way back to each other! We’re getting less dependent on our carers, and love to be ourselves out in the forest.
Asto having some downtime and chilling up in the canopy
A Day Well Done
We are so lucky to have amazing people like you helping us on our journey. Your support is giving us the opportunity to learn and grow together. You’re helping us work toward our goal of jungle freedom. You’re making our dreams come true!
When we were rescued from being kept as pets in 2021, we were so scared and worried for our futures. Now, we are so excited to one day be wild and free.
And we have you to thank for that!
Thank you for being our number one champion 🧡
Program: Sumatran Rescue Alliance (SRA)
Location: North Sumatra, Indonesia
Run by: SRA is a collaboration with our COP and OIC partners, and the Ministry of Forestry 🌳