Let’s Take a Mud Bath!
Date Posted September 14, 2022
Text by: Dr. Nadine Adrianna Sugianto, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, working on the Orangutan Enclosure Design Tool (EDT) Project in collaboration with BOSF - Nyaru Menteng, Central Kalimantan.
On a scorching day in February at Nyaru Menteng’s Forest School in Central Kalimantan, some students from Group 4 discovered the ultimate way to cool down. Monte was the first to find a refreshing mud puddle nearby and without wasting any time immediately sat down beside it.
At first, he just dipped his hand in to feel the water, but after a while he fully hopped in to enjoy a cool ‘bath’. Monte sat in the water and dug his fingers into the mud, then wiped it all over his body. He even plucked out some stems and used the leaves to apply the mud all over his body. What a lovely, organic body treatment!
Upon seeing Monte in his mud ‘bath’, Uru, a fellow student in Group 4, seemed to want to join in. He approached Monte and sat near the puddle, at this time still with completely dry hair. He then started touching the water with his hands and feet, playing with it, before then continuing on to make bubbles in the water with his mouth. It wasn’t long before Uru was entirely covered in mud, just like Monte - and two very wet and muddy orangutans were enjoyed a delightful spa date together!