Skip to main content

News

Luffy in final stage of his rehabilitation

After 5 years at Sepilok, Luffy is ready for the next challenge.

27/03/2024

Luffy's story

Luffy (pronounced Loo-fy) was a very poorly orangutan when he first arrived at the nursery at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in April 2019. He required round-the-clock care from the veterinary team at the clinic before he was ready to be introduced to the other infants on the rehabilitation programme.

Luffy hanging forward facing eye contact funny face

He soon gained confidence on the jungle gym where he developed some important orangutan skills like gripping, swinging and climbing.

When he progressed to climbing the trees that surround the nursery, he made some good friends in Zorro and Hujan, who he would play with in the treetops and encourage to climb higher with him, always improving.

Luffy 2021

Now displaying many of the natural behaviours and skills of a wild orangutan, Luffy is ready to move from the indoor to outdoor nursery. Here, he will be surrounded by older, wild and rehabilitated orangutans who partially take over the role of teaching from our staff. By observing them closely it is hoped that he will learn to become more independent and start to venture deeper into the reserve.

Luffy goes to next stage of rehabilitation

Once extremely vulnerable, scared and unwell, little Luffy has developed into a resilient, confident orangutan. His carers feel that he is ready to take on this new challenge, but they will still be there to support him if needed.

Each orangutan on the rehabilitation programme has a different story which makes them unique. Most have experienced some sort of trauma prior to their arrival at Sepilok which makes it difficult to predict how they will adapt to their new life there. It is crucial that they are individually assessed regularly so that their journey of rehabilitation can be tailored to them and as successful as possible.

We're sure that Luffy will thrive in his new environment, and look forward to following his progress there.

Luffy portrait light

Explore more articles