Charlotte, a young female orangutan, was released into the Busang forest in Borneo after a long rehabilitation journey at the Jungle School, the jungle school for orangutans rescued from captivity. Found as a baby chained under a house terrace in Sumatra, her life seemed doomed: deprived of freedom and separated from her mother, she was destined to suffer physically and mentally.
But that didn’t happen. Her name is no accident: Charlotte means “free woman” in French, and every day of training brought her closer to the life she deserved. The Borneo Orangutan Rescue Alliance (BORA), in collaboration with Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry and Environment and the Orangutan Project, oversaw every phase of her recovery.
Learning from jungle school
Orangutans have one of the longest childhoods of any species: they’re born without knowledge and learn everything from their mothers, from safe foods to techniques for avoiding predators, building nests, and moving through trees. Deprived of these lessons, orphaned orangutans risk death if left alone.
At Jungle School, Charlotte learned to climb trees, forage for natural food, build safe nests, and use simple tools, under the guidance of human caregivers who replaced the maternal figure. Where before she had been fed inadequately—bread, sweets, and chips—now Charlotte knows fruits, leaves, and insects, essential for her survival in the wild. Emotional and mental healing
The period of captivity had left deep scars: Charlotte was afraid of almost everyone, withdrew from new stimuli, and slept on the ground instead of in nests. Jungle School doesn’t just teach physical skills: it promotes mental and emotional healing, transforming a fearful orangutan into a brave and joyful one.
Assistants teach digging into logs to find termites, folding leaves to form soft nests, and swinging safely between branches. Each gesture, repeated multiple times daily, helps make Charlotte independent and ready to live in her natural habitat.
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After four years, Charlotte was transferred to a pre-release island, where she could practice all the skills she’d learned, spending most of her time in the tree canopy. Today, Charlotte finally lives free in the Busang ecosystem, alongside other previously rescued orangutans like Mary, Jojo, Bonti, and Popi.
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