Popi is thriving at our BORA rescue centre in East Kalimantan and continues to flourish in Jungle School.
Popi in the canopy at Jungle School
She loves spending time with her friends in the forest, especially her close companions Bagus and Charlotte. Popi has also become a role model for the younger orangutans, including Jainul and Astuti, who follow her lead and learn valuable skills from watching her.
Recently, Popi has further honed her climbing and foraging abilities, becoming an expert at finding and enjoying a wide range of forest foods. Her diet includes everything from ripe and unripe fruits to young leaves, fungi, and flowers. One of her standout skills is foraging for rotan—a climbing plant with tough, thorny stems. While those sharp thorns usually deter animals, Popi has mastered the technique of carefully avoiding them to access the soft, delicious stem inside. This fantastic video shows Popi skilfully munching on rotan at Jungle School!
Rotan is a vital food source for wild orangutans, and our Jungle School keepers ensure that their young students are introduced to a variety of wild foods like this during their rehabilitation journey. The younger orangutans look up to Popi, learning from her foraging expertise as she navigates these complex, spiky treats.
When she’s not exploring the forest, Popi enjoys the enrichment activities provided by our keepers, particularly the hanging feeder balls that keep her mentally stimulated. She’s in excellent physical health, with her hair becoming darker and longer—a sign of her well-being. Popi’s gentle and sweet nature has captured the hearts of everyone at BORA, and it's been a joy watching her grow from a tiny baby into the confident orangutan she is today.
A heartfelt thank you to Popi’s adopters for supporting her on her rehabilitation journey. Your generosity is helping her get one step closer to freedom!
