For those who have not met him yet, Aman is our large dominant male at Matang Wildlife Centre

In March 09, two of our volunteers presented us with the kind gift of a 200m roll of 2inch rope. This thick, industrial strength rope is perfect for orang-utan, and with it we were able to rope Aman’s outdoor enclosure. The smaller ropes that used to hang there have slowly been dismantled by Aman over the months, which has been great enrichment for him as orang-utans do love to destroy things, but has meant his enclosure has been devoid of rope for a while.



After roping his enclosure, Aman systematically worked his way around the area, testing each length of the new rope, and this initial investigation was caught on film and is available for viewing on our website. It obviously had no trouble supporting his weight, and on first test run it appears to have no obvious weak points. Orangutans will commonly check new structures, or new additions to structures, for any weaknesses or points that can be dismantled. The rope survived its first afternoon with Aman – let’s hope it withstands his might for many more months!



With kind thanks to Eric McCallum and Robin Smith for the gift of the rope.

Labels: Male orangutan, matang wildlife centre, orang-utan, orangutan, orangutan volunteer