Our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) team went on a regular patrol across transects 12 and 32 in early March. On this day, two teams of two, consisting of Yen, Brusli, Emen, and Rio, started the day together as they travelled towards the camp helipad. The plan was to split up at the helipad, but when then reached the divide in the trail, Yen noticed movement behind the trees. 

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As expected, the movement was from an orangutan, so the team broke out their camera to identify the orangutan. It was Erina, an orangutan who was released in mid-2018 in the southern section of the Kehje Sewen Forest. She was freed alongside four other orangutans, Julien, Cheryl, Nicola, and Choki. 

After only four minutes of observation, another, larger orangutan suddenly appeared. While the team could tell he was male, they were unsure of his identity. While Erina is a shy orangutan when it comes to contact with humans, she has always enjoyed interacting with other orangutans. So, it was wholly is unsurprising that she is now spending her time with another orangutan in the Kehje Sewen Forest.

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During the gathering, these two were seen climbing trees together and feeding on wild figs (Ficus sp.). Not only that, but the two found time to groom one another. Orangutans live semi-solitary lives so affiliative interactions such as these between two unrelated individuals is rare. As they are of opposite sex, they may currently be in a consortship, a brief period of time when a male and female orangutan live side-by-side and also mate. Enjoy your time with your new man, Erina!

Text by: PRM Team at Camp Nles Mamse, Kehje Sewen Forest, East Kalimantan