Wigly is an active explorer on Kaja Island, one of the BOS Foundation’s pre-release islands in Central Kalimantan. He has a wide range of forest skills and is able to handle the challenges he faces living in the natural landscape of the island.
He’s often observed at the various feeding sites on the island, and he is in a healthy condition. Wigly has a beautiful, thick coat of hair and has been given an ideal body condition score from the veterinarian.
A few months ago, the Rungan River rose significantly due to heavy rains, and it even flooded out the technician’s guard post at one point. Wigly had to survive in the trees, and his range became more limited as he no longer had the option of traveling on the ground. Currently, the water level of the Rungan river is quite stable, allowing Wigly and other orangutans on the island to explore more.
Wigly is adventurous and brachiates flawlessly from tree to tree. He has been observed exploring the island with other male orangutans including Lori and Ello. Even though they are quite close, they will still fight for food or strategic positions either in the trees or on the feeding platform. Wigly is excellent at foraging for natural foods however he still eagerly awaits the arrival of the technicians with breakfast when he wakes in the morning and emerges from his nest.
In this video you can see Wigly munching away on some corn which is one of his favourite foods. The man calling out is one of the technicians who is alerting the orangutans on the island that breakfast has arrived!
It’s wonderful to see Wigly continue to flourish and develop his forest skills on Kaja Island. You can see from these photos that he doesn't mind wading in the water to retrieve some fallen food that the keepers have thrown, including his favourite- corn! As BOS Foundation continues to release more orangutans into protected habitat, orangutans like Wigly move even closer to eventual forest freedom. Keep up the great work Wigly.
