By TIM SPANTON
Published: 19 Mar 2009

Mischief ... ten-month-old April chews a sheet (Barcroft Media)

THESE cheeky youngsters look cute enough for pin-up posters as they monkey
around in their nappies for the camera.

But behind their crazy ape japes there is a serious reason for treating the baby orang-utans
like human infants.

They have all been abandoned or injured at an early age, leaving staff at a unique intensive
care unit in the heart of the Malaysian jungle to work around the clock to care for them.

In the orang gang ... June-Junior on a drip (Barcroft Media)

With two-hourly feeds and 30- minute checks, the patients need all the care human babies do.

But unlike their hairless distant cousins, the orang-utans can get up to advanced mischief as
soon as their carers’ backs are turned.

Pulling at a heart monitor cable or trying to suck on an intravenous drip is a fun game for three-
month-old June-Junior and her pal April, ten months. They are among 23 Borneo orang-utans
at the unit, which is part of a conservation centre called Orang-Utan Island.

Head vet Dr Sabapathy Dharmalingam says: “It is a matter of the survival of the species. The
plan is to start returning them to the wild in a secret location in Borneo.

“April is in intensive care after being rejected by her mother, who was very aggressive towards her.

“June-Junior is a more serious case as she was born weighing just 2lb 6oz and had respiratory
problems. We frequently have to put her into an incubator because her temperature falls.”

It costs £30,000 a year to staff the orang-utan hospital and the cash comes from admission
fees to a nearby wildlife park.

Dr Sabapathy adds: “The babies stay in the intensive care unit until they are almost a year old
and are then moved to our infant development unit. There they are taught how to survive in
the wild and their human contact is gradually cut to a minimum.”

So, cute as the orang-utans are, it clearly doesn’t pay to get too primatey with them...

Source: The Sun
URL: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/article2327853.ece