Nursery school
A place for babies and infants…
Orangutans no older than 2 years are placed in the nursery where they are taught amongst other things to climb small trees. In the wild the babies would be with their mother until they are about 7 years old. The infants in the centers are monitored 24 hours a day and each one has two babysitters on constant shifts that become like their “mothers”.
Just like for humans, the first years of an orangutan’s life are very important for their future development. An orangutan mother never leaves her little one. She is constantly by his or her side. A baby orangutan who is left alone by their babysitter will become hysterical and scream very loudly. If the babies are left alone for a longer period of time without comfort and care there is a great risk of them withdrawing into themselves. Stress and grief are amongst the most common causes of death for young orangutans living in captivity. To sum up, infants need to be in constant contact with a body.
In the nursery you will often see the infants wearing diapers, which can seem a little strange as they are being taught how to become wild. As the orangutans spend a large part of their day clinging to their babysitters, diapers can be very handy at least during certain parts of the day.
The orangutans grow accustomed to the diapers quickly and do not seem to mind. The smaller infants are fed milk from a bottle to start with and are then slowly taught to eat different kinds of fruit and to drink from their own bowls.
Please remember that putting clothing on any non-human ape is exploitative. Apes are not meant to wear human clothing. It is meant to be funny but it is not. We don’t put the diapers on the babies to be cute. And yes, we are well aware of how adorable it is… just remember that it is not the same as dressing up apes and using them in commercials to sell products!
