A baby orangutan rejected by her mother at a Spanish zoo is settling into her new home at the Monkey World rescue centre in Wool, Dorset, after a first class ferry trip across the English Channel.
The ape rescue charity near Wareham has welcomed Kiwi as the latest VIP member of Europe’s only orangutan creche where she has been making friends with little Sibu, who moved to Purbeck from Dublin Zoo in October 2024 after his mother was unable to feed him.
Donna Phillips and Anabel Ibanez took care of Kiwi on her journey across the English Channel
Rejected by her mother at birth
Monkey World’s creche, where orphaned or rejected orangutans can grow up and learn vital survival skills, is now home to six youngsters, being cared for by foster mother Oshine, a Bornean orangutan rescued from the illegal pet trade in South Africa in 2010.
Kiwi, who arrived at Monkey World on Friday 15th November 2024, was rejected by her mother shortly after she was born at Rio Safari Elche in Alicante, Spain.
Attempts to have her adopted by another female orangutan failed, and Kiwi was relocated, after Monkey World team leader for orangutans Donna Phillips spent a week with her in Spain.
Donna and Kiwi’s Spanish carer Anabel Ibanez drove her through Spain and France to Calais before taking Kiwi into the UK on board the first class deck of P and O Ferries.
Welcoming an orangutan on board was a first for the crew of the Liberte on the sailing from Calais to Dover
Anabel and Donna made sure that the long trip from Alicante to Wool wasn’t stressful for Kiwi
First class ticket on ferry
Jack Steer, P and O Ferries port operations director, said:
“It is not every day we have an orangutan on board and it was a special day for our P and O Liberte crew who greeted Kiwi and arranged a quiet place for her to stay as she sailed across the English Channel.
“We wanted to help make the transition smooth and stress free for Kiwi, so we arranged first class service for the VIP – Very Important Primate – to make sure that she had privacy on the sailing so the care team could concentrate on her wellbeing throughout the trip.”
Kiwi, who weighs around 12 lbs – or 5 kg – is now making friends with four month old Sibu, spending mornings and evenings together with specialist Monkey World care staff before they move into the orangutan nursery full time.
The babies met on Kiwi’s first weekend in the Purbeck park and immediately showed interest in each other.
Baby Sibu met his new adopted sister almost as soon as Kiwi reached Monkey World
Kiwi already has strong opinions
Monkey World director Alison Cronin said:
“Kiwi is a confident individual with strong opinions on when and where she should be fed, and where she should sleep, and young Sibu will have some catching up to do to impress his new adopted older sister!
“It is so important that the babies grow up with others of their own kind rather than with people so that they mature into healthy and well-adjusted adults.
“With the addition of Kiwi and Sibu, Monkey World has cared for 13 orangutan orphans from seven countries over the years.
“It is hard work caring for two needy orphans but it means the kids will be able to grow up together under the watchful eyes of their older brothers and sisters and adopted mother.”
Dr Alison Cronin looked after Sibu on his journey from Dublin Zoo to Monkey World
Giving gorgeous babies a new family
Alison Cronin added:
“It is quite an international crowd at the orangutan nursery and, while it is very sad that they are not being cared for by their mothers, all of us from Spain to Ireland to Dorset are doing everything possible to give these gorgeous babies families of their own kind.
“Monkey World specialises in the care of these very vulnerable infants and has specialist facilities to aid in their development and integration into the nursery creche.
“It was really too bad that Sibu’s mother did not feed him, it was what everyone had hoped for, but in the end the team at Dublin Zoo saved the baby’s life and cared for him around the clock while necessary health checks and paperwork were completed for his transfer here.
“Sibu’s future in the nursery crèche is a long one as he will stay with us, growing up with other orang-utans for the next 10 years before having an adult group of his own someday.”
Sibu will learn orangutan skills for the next 10 years before having his own adult group someday
Depend on early years to learn life skills
Monkey World’s creche for orphaned and rejected infants aims to break the cycle of abandonment and help female orangutans rear their own young in future.
Orangutans have the longest childhood of any primate apart from humans, and as they are semi-solitary in the wild, they depend on their early years to learn everything from their mother which they will need in adult life, including climbing, feeding and child-rearing.
When young orangutans are unable to be mother reared, they don’t learn the skills to enable them to look after their own children, and for boys like Sibu, growing up in the nursery teaches the skills to live with women and children when they become fully mature males.
Two graduates of the nursery who were abandoned at birth have now gone on to have and care for their own young.
Adult orangutan Oshine, rescued from the illegal pet trade in South Africa, is foster mum to the new arrivals
Habitat loss due to logging
Monkey World is now home to 15 orangutans in three groups, the largest number kept anywhere in the world outside Asia.
The main threat to the orangutan in the wild is habitat loss due to the logging of forests in Malaysia and Indonesia for the palm oil industry.
They are also used in the entertainment industry or as pets – an illegal, but growing, industry in Asia and the Middle East.
Monkey World is hoping to raise funds to support the orangutan nursery with its Adopt A Primate scheme.
Chocolat the chimp is the star of the new series of Monkey Life on Sky Nature
Adopt a primate for Christmas
Charlie Crowther, Monkey World press officer, said:
“Adoption packs include a photo of your chosen primate, a certificate, three newsletters a year and a year-long entry pass to Monkey World, so they make a great Christmas gift and let you return again and again to visit!
“The funds from adoptions help Monkey World to continue rescuing and rehabilitating primates in need from around the world and give a real insight into the 250 rescued and endangered monkeys and apes of 20 different species that we care for.”
Monkey World is the largest primate rescue centre of its kind in the world and has a global following thanks to the Sky Nature series Monkey Life, narrated by Ralf Little and now in its 17th series.
Episodes in December 2024 will feature the story of Chocolat the chimp – as told by Swanage.News – who was shot in the head by hunters as a baby when her parents were killed by poachers.
Monkey World was covered in snow and buffeted by Storm Bert in November 2024
Further information
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