Yesterday, Ayu and I went to the Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island (in the U.S. we wrongly refer to these animals as orangutang's) where we learned all about these amazing apes. You can read more about the sanctuary by clicking here. After buying tickets (cheap - only 15RM each) we took a ferry to the island. Orang Utan in malay means "person of the forest".
On the way, we passed by this interesting hotel built on top of the water!
Ayu and I were very excited that we were going to see Orang Utan.
Upon arrival we were greeted with this sign - No Touchy!
These were some of the first little guys we came across. Both about 2 years old, they were inseparable! The sanctuary has a multi-step program that takes orphaned orang utan in and eventually once they know all the skills needed to survive re-releases them into the wild.
One of the main differences between this sanctuary and your average zoo was that the humans are the ones in the cage! The animals are basically free to roam in the area set for their certain stage. There are limits to how far they can go, but they are quite happy I'd say. Especially these two.
I couldn't stop taking pictures. They were probably about arms reach away just laying down on the concrete floor to avoid the heat of the day. The keeper said these little guys are as strong as me!
Like I stated earlier, orang utan's are 98% the same DNA-wise as human beings. The guide told us that the females have the same menstrual cycle as humans, and they use a human pregnancy test to determine whether or not a female is pregnant. 
Next it was feeding time for the two above. They still wouldn't let go of one another (I have more pictures of them walking hand-in-hand over to get their bottles but they're a little blurry so I didn't include them)!
This is the oldest and largest orang utan at the reserve and his name is Mike. He's 26 years old and has flanges on the sides of his face (and a pouch that hangs down under his chin) that distinguishes him as the alpha-male. His hair is REALLY LONG (it hangs down to the ground), and he weighs 100kg (equal to 220 lbs). There are varying schools of thought about the flanges. Some say that at the age of 20 orang utan males start to form them, and others say that an older male will form them when he finds a territory that is not yet claimed.
Here's Mike and a female enjoying some shade during the heat of the day. The box in the foreground is used to roll fruits and vegetables down to the apes - which one of the keepers did while we were watching (two tomatoes)
As soon as they heard the noise of the tomatoes rolling, Mike and the female got up and headed over to investigate.
Mike got the first one and went back to the shade to eat. The other he left for the female who after getting hers came over by Mike and happily ate her tomato.
This little guy was looking at us humans in the cage very curiously.
And this guy was coming down from the tree because one of the keepers had just entered the area and he wanted to investigate.
Ayu and I really took to this little guy. He's in step 1 of the training - learning to climb using ropes. The keeper told us he's only 1 year old. The pictures speak for themselves I think.
The sanctuary is great because they do in-depth testing for disease and can balance the Orang Utan's diet very well. The little ones that were abandoned drink a special formula that helps them grow. The keepers prefer to have the mother raise them, but in many cases this is not possible - so formula is the only option.
Here's the nursery. This little guy wouldn't sleep - he was just too curious - all the people and the two other orang utan next to him were just too exciting.
They really look like humans! If their legs weren't jointed so they could move them so far forward, and they weren't so hairy I would say this was a human being!
They really love their keepers. This little guy went to sleep soon after being changed. And then we were off - to more adventures.
On our way home we spotted this funny sight. There's a person riding in the car that's being towed! Only in Malaysia.The following pictures are just some extras for your enjoyment...
A caterpillar at the orang utan island
A walking stick on one of our hikes - with pink wings that you can just barely make out.
This is Penang. And the small figure in the bottom left is Ayu. On one of our hiking adventures. Bye!
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