National Geographic Kids Chapters: Best Friends Forever: And More True Stories of Animal Friendships. Amy Shields

from their families. At they preserve, they learn from Suryia. They learn by watching and playing with him.

      If Suryia lived in the wild, he’d be on his own by now. At the preserve he lives in a house with three younger orangutans. An animal trainer named Moksha Bybee (sounds like MOKE-shuh BYE-bee) lives with them.

      Suryia and the three little orangutans love to wrestle. They have fun tickling each other. They run and roll across the yard. Sometimes Suryia grabs a twig to scratch his back. The little ones find their own twigs. They try to scratch their backs. Sometimes Suryia makes kiss-kiss noises at the babies. They make kiss-kiss noises back.

      Most of the time Suryia gets along just fine with the little orangutans. But at mealtimes he has to eat by himself. Otherwise, Suryia would grab their food. That’s just what older orangutans do.

      In the evening, Moksha gives the orangutans a bath. She puts them in the tub. She tries to wash them. They just want to splash. They want to play. This surprises Moksha. In the wild, orangutans do not like water. In the wild, water means danger. In the tub, water means fun.

      Lots of things would be different for Suryia if he lived in the wild. At the preserve, he spends his days with lots of other animals. In the rain forest, he would spend his days alone. He would look for food alone. At night he would make a nest of leaves in a treetop and sleep alone. He would not have a dog as a friend!

      At the preserve, Moksha helps the young orangutans get ready for bedtime. She pulls blankets into round, soft nests for them. Suryia makes his blanket nest all by himself.

      Before lights out, Moksha does one more thing. She calls, “Roscoe, bedtime!” Roscoe runs into the house. Then he curls up to sleep next to his best friend, Suryia.

       Orangutan School

      In Sumatra and Borneo, wildlife workers run special schools for young orangutans that don’t have moms. The workers teach them skills they need to survive in the wild.

       Wild orangutans live in trees. They can go for weeks without touching the ground. At orangutan school, baby orangutans practice on jungle gyms made of ropes and netting. They learn how to climb up and stay up. If a baby goes too high and gets scared, a worker helps it back down. After a cuddle, it’s time for another try!