The first day of school can be scary, especially when you don't know any of your classmates. And for a baby orangutan named Gatot, his first day was no exception.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
According to one Indonesian man, he was searching for firewood in the forest recently near
Jelai Hulu, Ketapang
in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, when he heard an animal crying. He followed the cries and stumbled upon Gatot, who was just a teeny, red-furred baby. It's unclear if the man's story is true.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
It's unheard of for mother orangutans to abandon their babies — mothers will stay with their young until they're 7 or 8 years old — so it was pretty clear that Gatot had been orphaned. While no one knows exactly what happened to Gatot, it's likely that villagers killed his mother while
cutting down their rainforest habitat
for palm oil plantations.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
The man took Gatot home with him,
treating him like a human baby
and feeding him milk from a bottle. While this might seem "sweet," keeping orangutans as pets is illegal — and harmful to the animal; they can
develop psychological disorders
and
suffer from malnutrition
, along with other issues.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
Borean orangutans have also recently been
listed as critically endangered
, with habitat loss and hunting being two of the biggest contributing factors driving the species to extinction. Anytime an orangutan is taken out of its habitat, there's a detrimental effect to the entire species.
Luckily for Gatot, authorities found out about the man keeping him as a pet, and alerted
International Animal Rescue (IAR)
to come rescue the baby.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
According to
IAR's Facebook page
, Gatot is the smallest and youngest orangutan currently in the group's care. After giving him medical treatment, the IAR team knew the best thing for Gatot was for him to socialize with other orangutans, and to learn the climbing and foraging skills that would help him go back to the wild someday.
On his first day of
school
, IAR vet nurse Fitri carried Gatot up a ladder to meet his classmates. But Gatot was scared and frightened — he cried and clung to Kandi, another orphaned orangutan.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
Kandi let Gatot hold onto him for a while …
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
… but Kandi wasn't too sure about Gatot. After all, Gatot was making a lot of noise.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
Then Gatot grabbed onto Jamila, a slightly older female orangutan. Unlike Kandi, she seemed quite happy to hug Gatot and help him through his first-day jitters.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
With the help of his new friends, Gatot should do well in school, and he'll learn everything he needs to know about being a wild orangutan.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
"The first day at any school is tough and it is heartbreaking to see little Gatot seeking comfort from the other orangutans around him," Alan Knight, CEO of IAR, said in a statement. "However it is among his own kind that he will learn the behaviors and the skills he will need to prepare him for life back in the wild. I've no doubt that he will soon adapt to his new environment and start to grow in confidence."
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue
To help IAR give Gatot and other orphaned orangutans round-the-clock care, you can
donate here
. You can also
sign this pledge
not to consume any products containing palm oil, which have a devastating effect on Indonesian wildlife.
Heribertus / International Animal Rescue